Relativity
by riemayu
Summary: Time travel was always a theory, until Tony Stark made it a possibility. Unfortunately, with his untimely death, it was left incomplete. Now, 18 years later SHIELD is desperate, and they do everything in their power to make it a reality and change the past by sending two people back to a time before they were born...one being, his daughter.
1. Chapter 1

Relativity

A/N - I've had this idea bouncing around in my head for a better part of a year. But knowing that Ultron was coming out, I wanted to see how my story would fit in with that world, and it seems to work out pretty good.

So, this begins 25 years after the events of Avengers, 24 years since IM3 and 23 years since Ultron. A lot has happened in those 23 years since Ultron and we'll go back to the past to establish events that have occured before we do some real time travelling. And of course, I'm no expert in any field of science so my mumbo-jumbo technobabble will be just that. So, don't be too picky - doing a fic involving time travel is hard enough... In an upcoming chapter, I'll set up the timeline...I have major events locked in, it's just the in between...

So...hold on for a ride...it's going to get a bit bumpy...

* * *

23 years after Ulton...(25 years since Avengers)

Another attack was imminent. That much, Coulson knew. He was surprised that it would finally come nearly 25 years after the first Chitauri attack on New York City. So many years had passed since their last attack that it almost seemed like a lifetime ago and their return was more unlikely. When Loki suddenly showed up 7 years later, the Chitauri had gotten their revenge against Stark, so Coulson had thought. If they were coming back again, it wasn't good.

He sat at the computer looking at a profile, the light of the screen illuminating the dimmed room. He reached for the folder beside him and opened it.

The higher than normal radiation readings that were continually being scanned in the upper atmosphere for over two decades finally sent out an alert to S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson looked grimly at the findings that were given to him. He put the report down and ran a hand through his grey hair before looking back at the computer screen.

They knew this day would come and had been preparing for years. But now that the day was finally upon them, he had no idea what he should do.

S.H.I.E.L.D had recently been working through a theory that Tony Stark himself came up with a few short months after Ultron was destoryed.

Time travel.

Unfortunately, that program came to a screetching halt following Tony Stark's death 18 years ago. It had limped along since then with the help of some of S.H.I.E.L.D's brightest minds, but none could figure it out. They had made some lee-way but now with the attack more imminent than ever, it was crutial to implement it. With the program, hypothetically they could send an operative back in time to warn them about the danger of the Chitauri's return and possibly even prevent Stark's death. But of course, there was the repercussions of how just the operative's presence would change the course of history. There were just so many variables that Coulson didn't know what to do. They were running out of options.

The woman on the screen was someone who he believed could decifer help Stark's algorythms and bring the theory to life. After all, she was Tony's daughter.

"Excuse me, director," a man said as he stood at the door, waiting for his orders from Coulson. Coulson had forgotten the man was there. He had been staring into the eyes of the woman on the screen, seeing an all too familiar smile looking back at him. "We can have S.H.I.E.L.D operatives pick her up in a few hours. We just need her location."

Coulson sighed. Besides a few trusted agents, he was the only one within S.H.I.E.L.D who knew of her whereabouts and he intended to keep it that way.

"No," he replied. "I made a promise to her parents that I would help protect her and keep S.H.I.E.L.D away from them. If anyone is going to approach her or her family, it'll be me."

But there had to be other options. Coulson wasn't about to go back on his word unless absolutely necessary. He knew of one other person who had the knowledge and skill to help.

"Did you find Banner?"

"We got a positive ID on a TSA security camera of him boarding a plane bound for West Palm Beach, Florida a few days ago. We lost him after that," the man told him.

Florida.

A smile pulled at his lips as he glanced at the Caltech student profile on the screen and noted the date of birth. Coulson knew then precisely why Bruce Banner would be visiting Florida. The man had kept a relatively low profile since Ultron. Banner would have known that he would be spotted by S.H.I.E.L.D while travelling on commercial airlines. He'd come out of hiding for only special occasions. It was an important day afterall.

"And what about Rogers, Romanov or Barton?"

The agent shrugged. "We can't locate them. They've gone off the grid, sir."

It wasn't as though they informed S.H.I.E.L.D of their every move, their address or cell phone number. The avengers hadn't been needed for years and most likely dissolved themselves into a private life. Thanks to him, much of their whereabouts and identities were erased from public record. Not only was it for privacy but also for their protection.

"How much time do we have?"

The agent looked down at the tablet in his hands.

"Radiation levels are still at a minimal level," he said. "More than when Loki arrived last but no where near the limit when the portal was opened over New York City 25 years ago. I'd guess a few days to a week."

They certainly were running out of time. The Relativity project suddenly became a top priority as Coulson quickly realized. But that also meant that he'd have to go back on his word.

The moment the agent left the room, he turned to his computer to bring up an agent on file that had been assigned to keep an eye on his interest for safety sake.

"Encrypt transmission to coordinates 539602, Boca Raton, Florida," he said aloud to the computer.

"Transmission encrypted, voice designation - Director Phillip Coulson," the computer dutifully replied.

"Send to known S.H.I.E.L.D reciever, voice designation Agent Daniel Rogers."

"Transmission enabled," the computer stated. "Stand by."

It only took a moment before he heard the tired voice of Agent Rogers.

"You could have given me more of a warning before contacting me," Daniel stated, his southern Florida drawl evident over the communication. "It's one in the morning here."

Coulson smirked. "You're always on the clock when you're working for S.H.I.E.L.D, Agent Rogers."

"I understand, sir."

Coulson smiled at the younger man's polite tone on the phone, something that he was certain was inherited from his father. It certainly wasn't the way his mother would deal with late night or early morning communications with him.

"How are your parents? I haven't heard from either of them in a long time."

"They're fine, sir," Rogers replied. "But I'm guessing that you didn't contact me just to ask about my Mom and Dad."

"No, I didn't."

Agent Daniel Rogers knew what his assignment was; or more particularly who his assignment was. There wasn't any other reason for Coulson to be contacting him.

"Is this about Anna?"

"It is," Coulson replied. There was an audible pause. "We're going to need her help."

"It's happening again, isn't it?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss it at the moment, but your job at protecting her has become more serious and a priority until she's in protective custody. Not only do we need her but she may also be in danger."

"That bad, huh?"

Coulson sighed. "Yeah."

He could hear Daniel take a deep breath.

"Sir, I've known Anna for my entire life. As someone who is her friend and who is also assigned to protect her, can you let me know what is going on?"

Coulson looked at the monitor in front of him; at the face looking back at him. He had worked so hard to maintain not only Anna's cover but that of her parents as well. That was one of the reasons why he had originally approached Daniel without his parents knowledge. If S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't able to get close to Anna and her parents, he could still have someone near them that both he and they could trust. Anna and Daniel were already close friends and the family knew him. He had grown up around them.

"It's above your clearance level."

With that, Rogers dropped it. He knew better than to pursue something when Coulson put such a finality on it.

"So," Rogers began, taking a deep breath. "I'm assuming you'd want me to bring her in."

"No," Coulson replied, surprising Rogers. "I started all of this. I'm not going to put you in the middle of it. Keep your cover. I'll take care of it."

"You're coming today?"

"I'll be landing at 0800 your time."

"You do know that it's her birthday today," Rogers reminded Coulson.

"I know," Coulson stated, knowing it was he day that he would never forget. He remembered the first time he held her, just moments old. He had been in awe at the life that had just witnessed coming into the world. Everything had happened so fast that Stark rushed onto the small jet, and ejected himself from his Ironman suit just as Anna was being born. Coulson had been enamoured by Anna just as much as her parents. For the three years he knew her, Anna had Coulson wrapped around her finger. He loved that little girl as though she was his own. Yet now, at 21 years old, he would be a stranger to her.

"And I have a feeling this is not going to go over well."

After a few more exchanges, Coulson hung up.

Coulson stood up and looked out the window towards the open ocean as the sun was going down on their part of the world. The constant, peaceful drone of the helicarrier was a welcomed sound. He closed his eyes, knowing that in a few days time, things will be different.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - I have done quite a bit on this story and I'll keep putting them out, but I'd love to have some review of what I've done so far. I found this part hard to write...I don't like doing angst.

* * *

18 years earlier (5 years after Ultron)

A door opened and the humid mid-summer night breeze blew in.

This was too easy, he thought as he slowly and cautiously made his way through the large, dark penthouse apartment. He recognized the room that he was in, although it had changed since he was there last, when he was being threatened by a mere human.

The light from the New York City skyline flooded the marble flooring.

With the sceptor in hand, Loki made his way deeper into the house. He passed a shelf of toys, all placed lovingly in their spots, ready for a new day to begin. He merely glanced at the photographs on the wall, stopping at an image of a small loving family smiling back at him. His eyes fell on the man who was responsible for ruining his plans the last time that he came to earth.

Tony Stark.

His gaze swept over the strawberry blond woman sitting beside him and to the dark, auburned haired child in pig tails on his lap.

Loki would make him pay. He would tear out his heart.

* * *

A cry broke the silence of the night.

Pepper recognized it instantly as it roused her from her sleep.

Anna.

Since she had been born, it was a sound that she had become quite familiar with and would wake her better than any alarm clock. Although, now at three years old, Anna slept through the night, there were nights where the odd bad dream would wake her up or she'd come down with a virus, which happened far too often.

Since she had been born, Anna had been susceptible to catching any bug she came into contact with. After a few times battling serious RSV as an infant, Tony took her to see Dr. Banner. Even before she was born, their concern was her exposure to the dormant Extremis within Pepper. They hadn't been able to extract it from Pepper and now they worried that it was having an effect on Anna and her immune system. Dr. Banner hadn't found anything unusual in her dna makeup, except that she had inherited Extremis from Pepper and he couldn't predict how it would affect her as she grew up. One obvious symptom was allergies and asthma. So, when Pepper heard the cry, she halted her own breathing to listen for any signs of an attack. Hearing nothing more than sobbing, Pepper relaxed somewhat, praying that it was just momentary and Anna would simply fall back asleep.

Since Pepper had gone back to work full time at Stark Industries as the CEO, Tony was the one who would usually get up to check on Anna, telling Pepper that if she could do it every night for nearly a year and live on little to no sleep, he could manage to get up for her now. Not willing to allow his child to be raised by a nanny as he had, Tony ended up staying at home with Anna. She had no clue what they did all day, but one thing was clear - Anna loved him and Tony had become quite the father. Except Tony wasn't home that night and hadn't been home for the past three days.

She sat up, and glanced at the clock, allowing her tired eyes to focus on the time. 4:28am.

The crying continued.

Pepper moaned. She was certainly not used to waking up this early.

As she stood up, her mind wandered to Tony, wondering what he was doing and when S.H.I.E.L.D would be done with his 'assistance'. She did know that he had been busy working on a project for months at home. She had no idea what was going on now except for that it was classified and all her calls to him were intercepted by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Pepper didn't even bother grabbing her housecoat and slippers. She made the decision that she would just bring Anna back into bed with her in hopes that the girl would fall back asleep in bed with her and give her a few more hours of sleep before she had to be up for the day. Pepper was already feeling sorry for Happy who had been staying over in the guest room in order to watch Anna during the day for her while Tony was away. She would surely be grumpy and give him a hard time.

When Pepper made it into the hallway, she was about to walk to Anna's door when she realized that the hysterical crying wasn't coming from the bedroom at all. Her next thought went to Happy, thinking the poor man was woken up by the screaming and was trying to calm Anna down himself. But as she made her way down the hallway towards the crying in the living room, she became curious as to why Anna was crying so hard. She was familiar with her 'Uncle' Happy and he would easily be able get a smile out of her. Something wasn't right.

The reason came as Pepper abruptly stopped as she saw the man standing in her living room. Her heart leapt into her throat as her stomach churned.

Loki, with the sceptor in one hand and the other arm wrapped around Anna's torso. He held her like a sack of potatoes.

The child was red faced as she looked fearfully at the stranger who held her. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her hair stuck to them, as she pushed against Loki who held her firmly with no intent on letting her go. Anna continued to scream, gasping every so often.

A maternal anger rose within Pepper upon seeing her child in the arms of a man who was responsible for so much death and destruction.

"I can see the beauty in whom she takes after," Loki said, eyeing Pepper carefully as he took in her pale pink tank top and plain navy flannel pants.

"I assume that her father is not at home."

Pepper didn't bother respond to his questioning statement. Instead, she scowled at the man, her eyes dancing between her increasingly panicking child and the evil man holding her. Pepper's heart pounded in her chest. At that moment, she wished that Dr. Banner and Tony hadn't caused the Extremis within her DNA to become dormant. She wanted nothing more than to grab Anna from his arms.

"I'm her father," a voice called out from behind her. Her eyes instantly widened as she turned to see Happy standing behind her.

"Happy, no," Pepper whispered, fearful for the man's life.

He ignored Pepper as he walked up beside her.

"Give me my child!" Happy spat out angrily at Loki.

Loki let out a laugh.

"Now this is humourous," he commented, looking at Happy. "You claim that you're the father of this..." he paused, looking repusively at Anna before he continued. "..this screaming urchin, when I know undoubtedly that she has the same eyes of the man who dared defy me just a few years ago. Do you take me for a fool?"

Happy shrugged just as the glass from the windows suddenly blew in, throwing shards across the room. Happy instinctively grabbed ahold of Pepper and pulled her to the floor out of the impact of glass as the woman attempted to keep an eye on Anna. Loki turned, feeling the glass hitting him in the back.

The sound of a rushing warm wind came up and blew into the room as a bright light illuminated the room. Pepper managed to see the large jet hovering outside their balcony.

"Loki! Stand down!" a woman's voice called out over the PA from the small jet. Pepper knew that voice and instantly felt a little better.

Natasha.

Loki raised his sceptor and aimed it at the jet. A burst of light exploded from it before it hit the wing. Pepper could hear the engine fail as it dropped from sight. Loki smiled triumphantly as Happy took Pepper's hand and pulled her up to stand. As they stood, their eyes caught view of Thor walking through the window and followed then by Captain America.

"Give the child back to her mother!" Thor called out over Anna's cries. "She is innocent and has no quarrel with you."

Loki watched as the two men approached him, Captain America to one side and Thor to the other.

Steve watched carefully as Loki rolled his eyes at the two of them. He had known Anna her entire life; watched her play with his own son and he too, felt a paternal instinct to protect her. Loki wasn't too far from the open window. If Loki made any move with her towards it, he was ready to pounce.

"Whatever your plan is, it's not going to work, Loki," Steve called out. "There's no way we're letting you leave with her."

Loki shook his head and smiled. "If I don't leave with her, the Chitauri will enact their revenge and there is nothing you can do to stop them. It may take them years to get here, but they will return. There is only one thing they want - the man who caused the destruction of the army and since he is not present, I'm certain that they'll be pleased to have his child."

The sound of a roaring engine came up behind them.

"Let go of my daughter or I swear Loki, I'll give you a new airhole."

A smile appeared on Loki's face when he realized who had showed up. Loki wasn't surprised. He had been waiting for Stark to show up, knowing his brazen act would get his attention.

Loki turned, and sneered as he watched Ironman hover a few meters away before dropping onto the glass covered marble floor with a thud, effectively cracking a few tiles.

Tony quickly ordered Jarvis to open the suit, much to the reluctance of the AI knowing the danger that he was in being left so physically vulnerable. The moment Anna laid eyes on him, her sobbing continued as she reached out to him, calling his name. Her face made his heart break. Tony quickly glanced over at Pepper and nodded as he noticed Happy dutifully by her side. He turned back to Loki and smiled, but it was only for Anna who continued her desperate attempt to get out of the evil man's arms.

"You wanted me?" Tony challenged, holding his arms out dramatically as he took a step forward. "Here I am. But the deal is, you let my daughter go. Now."

Loki winced and chuckled as he took a step back, closer to the opened window. Tony took a hesitant step forward and stopped, watching how close Anna had become to the window's edge.

"Come closer and I'll drop her," Loki shouted at them.

As the man turned slightly, Steve saw an opportunity. He swung his shield out like a frisbee and hit Loki in the back, causing him to drop Anna to the ground. Thor leapt forward just as Loki turned and fired the sceptor at him. From the corner of his eye, he noticed movement and turned once more, firing the sceptor and hitting Tony in the stomach.

Tony fell backwards onto the tile and could hear Pepper's frantic scream in the midst of Anna's sobs. His eyes opened, and saw his child standing precariously near the edge of the window. She was shaking, watching as Captain America and Thor battled Loki. What concerned him just as much as her proximity to the edge was her loud, laboured breathing. He recognized it.

Asthma attack.

She had only had them twice in her life and they both scared the crap out of him. Despite the pain he was feeling, the fear for Anna's life terrified him.

The world seemed to slow down when he saw Loki give him a sneer before he turned swiftly around and pushed Anna towards the edge with the back of his leg.

"No," Tony gasped, seeing her loose her balance on the edge.

Ignoring the pain he felt, he pushed himself up to stand and ran without pause before jumping out the same window he had just seen Anna disappear through.

Pepper felt sick to her stomach as she pulled herself out of Happy's grasp and ran for the edge of the building just as one of Tony's suits flew after him and out the window. She was compeltey oblivious that Loki had given up the fight, seeing a bleeding Tony Stark dive off the building after Anna.

"Revenge certainly feels good," Loki stated happily as Thor clamped restraints onto Loki's wrists behind his back.

"I would hold off on that feeling if I were you," Steve said, looking over the edge just as a blast of air and roar of an engine shot past them and up the side of the building.

Loki's smile faded as he watched Iron Man drop onto the balcony. Pepper raced up to them just as he turned off the impulse drive and lifted the faceplate on his helmet.

"She's having an asthma attack," Tony quickly said, as Pepper turned back to Happy who simply replied with a "I'm on it" before he dashed down the hallway.

Anna turned in Tony's metal arms, a look of fear in her eyes as Pepper quickly took her. Her breathing continued to be erratic as she cried between breaths.

"It's all right," Pepper said softly, calming the child before she looked up at Tony, knowing that he was shot by Loki.

Pepper noticed the sweat on his brow and the fact that his eyes were closed.

"Tony?"

"I'm a... I'm not feeling so hot," he said as he collapsed.

"Tony!" she exclaimed as Steve ran over to them.

"We need to get him out of this!" Steve said, putting his hand on the chest plate. "Tony, you have to take this off."

Tony simply nodded, his eyes still closed. "Open it up, J."

As the suit opened up, Happy had arrived with Anna's nebulizer and handed it to Pepper who quickly put it to Anna's mouth. She watched as the suit opened and encouraged Anna to breath, putting a smile on her face as she quickly turned her body to avoid Anna having to see the blood that was pouring out of Tony's abdomen.

She looked at Steve who had a look of despair on his face. He looked up at Pepper, and shook his head sadly. Steve was surprised that Tony was still alive following an injury like that.

Tears came to Peppers eyes as she smiled at Anna, running her hand over her hair.

"Good girl," Pepper said, smiling through the tears.

"Pep?"

Pepper felt a hand on her knee and looked past Anna at Tony as he laid on the ground. She was about to pass Anna to Happy to keep her from seeing what was going on behind her with her father but then noticed that Steve had attempted to stop the flow of blood with a blanket from their couch.

Pepper reached down and took Tony's hand as she turned with Anna on her lap.

"How are you doing kiddo?" Tony asked, smiling at Anna. Anna had wrapped her arms around Pepper, hiding her face under her chin. He looked at Pepper. "How is she? She all right?"

"She's fine," Pepper replied softly. "Breathing better and she's slightly traumatized."

Tony scoffed lightly and then coughed. "Yeah, I don't blame her. Get Banner to check her over just to...uh..make sure..it's all good."

Pepper was about to speak when tears began to fall down her cheeks, her lip trembling as she held tightly onto Anna in her arms.

"Hey, hey," Tony said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I'll be fine. SHIELD is on their way. I heard they have a pretty good medical team. You know first hand."

That statement caused Pepper to chuckle despite the situation. They had been planning to give birth to Anna within a SHIELD base with Dr. Banner nearby in order to monitor any concerns that may arise. Except they never took into account that Anna was Tony's child; a Stark, and as Tony had displayed countless times, a Stark was unpredicatble and beat to their own drum. Anna had been born enroute to the base with only Tony and Phil Coulson attending.

"And if not?"

Tony's smile faded as he looked from Pepper to the little girl she held in his arms. If Loki's threat meant anything and that the Chitauri would return, then Anna would be in danger and he wouldn't be around to protect her.

"Then you leave Stark Industries," he said, weakly. "Disappear. Get out of New York City with Anna and start a life somewhere else. Away from all this crazy alien stuff. Away from SHIELD. Tell Coulson. I'm sure he can lend a hand in covering your tracks."

Tony gasped after he spoke, not realizing how difficult something like breathing was becoming. He reached up and put his hand on Anna's back. She still held tightly onto Pepper, hiding her face.

"And don't tell her about this," Tony said softly. "She needs to grow up without knowing that the Chitauri may come for her, all because of me."

Pepper took a shaky breath and nodded, before wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"I love you," she whispered.

Tony smirked. "I love you too, Pepper."

She leaned over awkwardly with Anna in her arms and kissed his lips, trying to encode the memory to mind. Anna twisted and looked down at Tony who simply smiled back at her. He raised his hand and pushed her wet with tears, dark auburn hair from her face.

"And I love you, my pretty Anna-banana," he told her, a smile coming to the three year old's face. "You were so brave."

"Love you, Daddy," she said softly.

"Can I have a hug and kiss?" he asked. "Daddy needs one of your hulk sized hugs that you're so good at."

After a moment of encouragement from Pepper, Anna bent over and wrapped her small arms around Tony's neck. She pulled back from him and leaned over, and gave him a kiss on his nose; one that she would give him each morning after she woke up.

"Are you better?" she asked. Her innocent eyes looked back at him, breaking his heart to the point where he couldn't tell her the truth.

"Much better," Tony replied, his voice cracking.

He gasped again.

"Tony?" Pepper exclaimed, leaning over him. She was completely oblivious to the fact that Happy had come up beside her and gently took Anna from her arms.

"It's...uh..." Tony began, his eyes showing more fear in them than Pepper had ever seen. "It's..uh..dark...that's not good."

"Stay with us Stark," Steve encouraged, taking the man's other hand. "Help is on the way."

In the distance, they could hear the roar of an approaching jet.

"I'm...I'm a...sorry," Tony said, weakly as his eyes shut.

"Tony?!" Pepper reached forward, putting her hands onto his face and felt the life breath expel from his lips as she put her forehead to his. Tears poured from her eyes and onto his face, knowing that he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - Thank you for all the follows and favs. Please review...I'd appreciate it...

* * *

18 years later(25 years after Avengers)

When she opened her eyes, Pepper glanced at the clock beside the bed.

It was only a nightmare...or more like a terrible memory. It was one that Pepper had almost nightly for weeks after Tony's death. She replayed the night over in her mind almost daily for months; wondering what she could have done differently to give a different outcome. If she had locked the balcony door...yet who would ever think someone would break it through a balcony on a penthouse level apartment?! Perhaps if she had brought Anna to bed with her that night, then she could have prevented Loki from using her as leverage against Tony in the first place. Now 18 years later, those thoughts were few and far between but she still felt the same emotions as she did on that day. She just learned to cope.

It had also helped that she had a strong rock to lean against. Happy had been by her side through the private funeral and as she became a single mother. He was her strength and best friend, and as years passed, he became more. Happy had already became a father figure in Anna's life; she had even called him Daddy like it was natural. So, when he and Pepper married in a small ceremony of friends, nothing changed.

Pepper sat up in bed, hearing the soft sounds of birds singing outside in the bright Boca Raton sunshine. It was a beautiful day and she wasn't about to let a nightmare from an event that happened years ago ruin it. Besides, it wasn't everyday that her only daughter turned 21.

Smirking, she leaned over the body beside her and gently placed a soft kiss below the man's ear. She got a groan in response.

"Good morning," Pepper whispered into the ear. "It's time to get up."

"It's 7 am," Happy moaned. "And it's Saturday - I'm not working today."

"I know. It's Anna's birthday. I wanted to make her breakfast before she leaves for work. Remember?" Pepper asked

She got a moan in response and she climbed out of bed.

"And you have a big day ahead of you," she commented. "I need the yard picked up and the pool cleaned before the party this afternoon."

"You know how Anna doesn't like surprise parties, right?"

"I know," Pepper said. "But she'll like this one."

Pepper smiled as she left the room and headed down the hallway towards the kitchen. Her smile faded as she smelled the familiar scent of toast.

As she came around the corner, Anna stood by the counter, fully dressed in black yoga capris and a yellow tank top with earbuds in her ears. Her hair was pulled up high on her head. She swayed slightly and hummed as she stuffed toast into her mouth while reading the newspaper on the table. By the sound of the music coming from the earbuds, Anna had no idea that Pepper had walked into the room.

Pepper smiled once again and leaned back against the counter across from Anna and just watched her. Somedays Anna became the physical embodyment of her father. The way she smiled, laughed and oddly enough, her subtle dance moves all mimicked Tony Stark. It didn't surprise Pepper. After all, Anna was named after him.

As Anna moved towards the sink, it was then that she saw Pepper standing a few feet away, a smile on her face. Anna startled and put her hand to her chest as she pulled the earbuds out of her ears.

"You scared the living daylights out of me," Anna said, a smile coming to her face. "How long were you watching me?"

"Not long. You've already had breakfast?"

Anna nodded, putting her empty plate into the sink. "I wanted to get an early start. I start work at 8:00 and I wanted to get a quick swim in before the kids arrived. I hope I didn't wake you."

Pepper shook her head. "I was hoping to make breakfast for you this morning before you left. It's your birthday."

"And it's just like any other day," Anna said, flatly. She didn't want any fuss being made and she knew what Pepper had been planning.

"Come on, Anna," Pepper began, entusiastically. "I remember when I turned 21. This is a big deal."

"And I know that you're planning a surprise party."

What? Pepper tried to wipe the look of shock off her face. She had been careful to not drop any hints, leave any traces of what they had been planning for a month now. She was certain that her days of being a PA to Tony paid off in this venture.

"No, I'm not," she told her, trying to hide any tells that she could be giving away.

Anna looked back at her and smiled. "I know you, Mom. I know when you're lying."

Pepper sighed. "I know that you don't like big parties. Just indulge me this once. Never again will I throw you a surprise party. I promise you, you'll like this one."

Anna smirked. "Will you have an ice cream cake?"

Pepper smiled. "Of course."

"All right. I'll be home shortly after noon."

She grabbed her duffle bag and swung it over her shoulder before disappearing through the door.

* * *

Anna pulled her car up to the gate, and climbed out of the car. Just as she moved to unlock the main entrance into the pool, the sound of another car approaching caught her attention. When she saw who it was a smile came to her face. The driver stepped out.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel asked, grabbing his backpack from the rearseat.

"Me? How about you? I was just wanting to get a morning swim in before the kids start showing up."

"Huh, how about that," Daniel mused as he walked up to Anna. His height several inches taller and his build exactly like his Father, Steve Rogers. "I woke up this morning, thinking the same thing. You know what they say about great minds and all."

Anna let out a laugh before she turned and proceeded to unlock the gate.

"This coming from a man who disappeared off the face of the earth for two years after high school for some save the rainforest gig and came back with a bad case of hives," she stated with a chuckle.

That was afterall, the cover story he had been telling after he was recruited by Coulson and trained by S.H.I.E.L.D. Not even his own parents knew what he had done.

"Hey now. That was poison ivy. And besides, I wasn't the one who dropped out of Caltech to become a lifeguard at a pool in Florida."

"Fair enough," Anna said, dropping her duffle bag onto the lowest bleacher lining the sides of the pool.

As she pulled her tank top over her head, revealing the teal green bathing suit beneath, she looked at Daniel. Although he sounded like himself, he certainly didn't look fully awake. For as much as she enjoyed teasing him, she did care about him. He was her first and closest friend.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired."

Anna smirked. "Hot date last night?"

Daniel chuckled, thinking back to his late night phone call from Coulson and the following inability to sleep before waking up in time to meet Anna at the pool. The tracker he had put within her medical alert bracelet years ago after he had returned from his '2 year excursion' and the beginning of his longterm assignment, alerted him that she had left home just fifteen minutes before he arrived at the pool.

"Something like that."

"Well then, maybe this time I'll have the upper hand and be able to beat you," Anna said, taking off the remainder of her clothing. Daniel simply shrugged.

"You can try, but I doubt it."

Daniel had inherited his father's stamina as much as his physique.

Moments later, both were in the pool in their respective lanes. As Anna swam across the length of the pool, she could see Daniel ahead of her. Not enjoying being beat by him again, she pushed herself. She watched as he dove under the water to turn at the end of the pool. Anna soon followed suit and tried to catch up but the man was nearly at the end and was above to dive under for another lap before she even made it halfway across. She also felt that familiar tightness in her chest and she knew that she had overdone it.

Trying to act as casually as possible, she paused and held onto the floating lane ropes, calming her breathing with the techniques that had been taught to her. She hadn't used her puffer in months and she wasn't about to break that streak. Anna was stubborn like that.

She closed her eyes and concentrated.

"Anna?" Daniel said. "are you all right?"

She didn't answer but nodded.

"No you're not," he quickly stated, knowing her well enough that she wouldn't admit it. "I'm getting your puffer."

She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, preventing him from swimming away from her.

"I'm fine," she said softly. "I just need a minute."

"It's this humid summer heat," Daniel mused, bitterly. "It can't be easy to breath it."

"I'm fine," she repeated, pushing herself off the side of the ropes and began to slowly swim to the side.

"I'm sure we can find someone to take over your classes this morning," Daniel suggested as he swam beside her, not believing her at all that she was all right.

"I appreciate the suggestion, but it's not necessary," she said as she pushed herself out of the water and turned, sitting on the edge and keeping her feet in the water.

Daniel followed and sat beside her.

"It's just frustrating," she finally admitted. She looked at Daniel briefly before looking out at the water of the pool. "Swimming was the only sport I could get into because of my medical issues and even still, I have the occasional trouble. I remember watching you play football in high school. I would have loved to be on some sports team, but instead I was part of the 'nerd herd'."

Daniel nodded and looked down at his feet in the water. "There's nothing wrong with being smart."

She shrugged. "I know. There's nothing wrong with feeling a little sorry for yourself."

Daniel smiled and nudged her shoulder. "Let's do a few more laps - no racing and at a leasurely pace. Then you can also give me some hints on what to get you for your birthday."

He slid into the pool, and turned to swim backward away from Anna.

"You don't have to get me anything."

"Sure I do. It's not everyday you turn 21."

"My Mom said the same thing."

"And she's right. I remember turning 21. You helped make it epic and I'm want to do the same for you."

Anna laughed, remembering the road trip they took to Orlando a year ago and spent a weekend at Epcot when Daniel turned 21.

Plus, Daniel knew what was going to happen later that morning and he wanted to make her birthday as enjoyable as possible for as long as possible.

"It may mean that I can't give it to you for another few days."

Anna shrugged and slid into the pool before swimming towards him and began to tread water. "I can wait. But that doesn't mean I'm going to try and figure out what it is."

An hour later and the kids had arrived and the lessons had begun. Parents would sit along the side of the pools on the bleachers and watched. Some had their eyes glued to their smart phones while others smiled and beamed as their children kicked and paddled along. Hours passed and it was nearing noon. Daniel couldn't help but occasionally look towards the gate, waiting for Coulson.

Finally, he arrived.

Although the parents, instructors and children didn't notice the man in a suit and sunglasses walk onto the pool deck, Daniel certainly did. He currently didn't have a class to instruct and casually made his way over to Coulson.

"Beautiful day," he mused, glancing up at the cloudless sky.

"It most certainly is," Coulson agreed. "How are things?"

"Going well," Daniel replied. "We have a full house today. It might be best to wait until the lessons are done before talking with her."

Coulson nodded, scanning the pool.

It certainly was busy but it didn't take him long to find Anna. She looked so much like Pepper but at the same time, she had Tony's eyes and smile.

She wasn't in a bathing suit as the other instructors were. He could tell it was on beneath the tank top and swimming shorts she wore as the wetness had seeped through them. She walked along the edge of the pool, as the kids swam lengths below her. He couldn't hear what she was saying but her gestures implied she was trying to demonstrate the arm circles needed for the back stroke to a boy as he swam on his back.

"Do you see her?" Daniel asked.

"I do," Coulson replied.

"Her last class ends in twenty minutes. I'll send her over to you after," Daniel told him. "Feel free to find a shady spot to wait."

Coulson nodded. "I'll do just that."

The man walked away from Daniel, leaving him to manage the pool, ensuring that the instructors were not overwhelmed by any children.

Coulson sat on the bleachers and sighed as he pulled out the file in his jacket. He had done plenty of interviews, dealt with negotiations and spoke with hostile enemies, but nothing had prepared him for this. It wasn't something he was wanting to do. Phil had gone over countless ways of approaching Anna and how he would tell her; none of which seemed appropriate.

How do you tell someone that thier help is crutial to the future of mankind, let alone tell them that everything they knew about their life, was a lie?


	4. Chapter 4

A/N - Thank you for the reviews/follows/favourites. This is my first time writing for Ironman/Avengers and I know some parts may not be canon in their world but I will get around to explaining it all. :)

Here's a long chapter - sorry for the delay in getting it out. Because it's late, I doubled it up in length. I know that it seems that it's taking a while to get them to go back in time...I want to establish who Daniel and Anna are away from the other canon characters first before sending them back to a place before they were born.

* * *

Time seemed to fly by as he sat there when he noticed the last of the children getting out of the pool and their respective parents leaving the bleachers to attend to them in the change rooms. He was the only one remaining on the bleachers. Coulson watched as Anna interracted with the other instructors; smiling and laughing before parting ways. He watched as Daniel walked up to, giving no indication that he knew what was going on and spoke a few words to her. She glanced past him at Coulson sitting on the bleachers and nodded before walking around Daniel and made her way towards him. Rogers gave a glance over his shoulder at Anna's retreating back before grabbing his own towel and headed for the change rooms.

Coulson watched as she came closer, for the first time really getting a good look at her. Her wet hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and she had a smile on her face.

"Hi," she said, extending her hand towards him. "I'm Anna Hogan. You wanted to speak with me about your son."

Coulson stood up and shook her hand, smiling lightly at the facade that Daniel had told her.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Coulson began, sheepishly. "I don't have a son."

He could see the questioning on her face as he spoke. "But I do need to talk to you."

She watched as he opened a file. Noticing that he was well-dressed man in a suit in the middle of a hot day made her realize what was going on.

"If you're wanting to sell anything swim or pool related, it doesn't go through me," Anna said, sharply. "You're going to need to talk to the supervisor. In the meantime, I suggest that you not use lies in order to get what you want. It really ticks people off."

Anna turned and began to walk away.

"It's your birthday today, isn't it?" the man suddenly called out. When she paused and glanced back at him, he smiled. "Happy birthday."

Anna heard him and was about to keep walking away but her curiousity got the better of her. She turned slightly and regarded him skeptically.

"How did you know that today is my birthday?" she asked. Just as Coulson was about to answer she smiled. "Oh, Danny put you up to this, didn't he? I saw him talking to you when you arrived. If this is his idea of a joke..."

"Actually, he didn't," Coulson told her, interrupting her. "I know that it's your birthday because I was there the day you were born."

This time, she turned completley and crossed her arms, really debating if the guy was for real. She wondered if he was possibly a doctor.

Knowing he at least had her attention, Coulson continued.

"You were born 21 years ago on this day at 8:23pm, in a jet somewhere over the eastern seaboard," Coulson said. "I don't know exactly what city we were nearest at the time since it was obviously not a priority, but I'd guess we were near D.C."

She shook her head. "Sorry, but I was born at Jackson Memorial in Miami. In fact I've lived in Florida my whole life and the only time I've been on a plane was going back and forth to school in California."

"Caltech," Coulson added with a nod. "You had a 4.6 grade point average and yet you dropped out partway through your second year. Your professors stated that you were brilliant but you were bored of the classes. Some even stated that you were smart enough that you could teach the courses."

Anna blanched slightly. This joke wasn't very funny. "How did you know all that?"

"I have your school transcripts right here," he said, opening the folder.

"Wha..? Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Phil Coulson, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D," he stated. He took a quick breath, knowing there was no going back now. "We're needing your help in figuring out and completing an algorythm that was started two decades ago and is still unfinished. With your background and IQ we're hoping you can help."

Anna scoffed.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.? It doesn't exist. It was a governmental publicity stunt back when Earth was being attacked by aliens and Gods twenty something years ago."

Coulson smirked. "It does exist. Although the membership is much smaller these days and it's been around for much longer than 20 years. In fact, your grandfather was one of the founding members."

"My Grandfather?"

Coulson nodded, swallowing before saying the name. "Howard Stark."

"I don't know where you're getting some of your information from, but I don't have a grandfather named Howard Stark."

With a sigh, Coulson reached into the file and pulled out a sheet of paper. He glanced down at it before holding it out towards Anna.

"This your birth cerficate," he said softly, watching her face as he spoke. "Your original one."

"Original...?"

As confused as she was, she reached forward and took the document. At the top of the page was a name, similar to her own - Anna Virginia Stark

She paused, looking at the name once again before quickly scanning the rest of the document for anything that makes sense. When she saw her own Mom's name, Virginia Potts, typed above the heading for mother alongside the name Anthony Stark for father, she shook her head.

"This isn't mine. My Mom's maiden name was Porter and my father is Harold Hogan. You have the wrong person," Anna said.

She held the document back at him.

Coulson nodded, knowing that convincing her would actually have to take a little more time and would have to involve her desire to determine the truth. As much as he needed her assistance with the project that her father began before the Chitauri arrived, he wasn't about to force her. He was already going against Tony and Pepper's wishes. So, rather than insisting that she'd believe it, he tried a different method.

"Have you ever seen photo's of yourself as a child with your father?"

"Of course."

"How about when you were baby?"

Anna shrugged and rolled her eyes. "What are you getting at? Just because there aren't dozens of photo's of myself with my Dad when I was baby doesn't mean that he's not my father."

Coulson smiled weakly before he reached into his pocket and held out a USB stick towards Anna. She didn't take it from him.

"Take it," Coulson encouraged. "It has more proof of what I'm saying is true along with that algorythm. So, in the very least if you still don't believe me, you can at least take a peek at that code. Tony Stark started it before he passed away."

Again she didn't take it.

"I could really use your help, Anna," Coulson said gently. "More than you can possibly know."

Finally, Anna cautiously took it from him, not entirely certain if she should be taking it. Her mind couldn't get past what he had just told her and she had seen.

"This just doesn't make any sense at all," she said softly.

"I know it sounds crazy and it's hard to believe," Coulson said, sympathetically before he turned to leave. "But like I said, take a look at the info on that USB stick if you're wanting to know more. Just remember to keep an open mind. I'll be in touch."

Anna watched as the man walked towards the gate. In her hand, she held the USB stick. It felt like it weighed a ton and she couldn't help the feeling of curiousity that the man had provoked within her. At the same time, the foolishness of of it all made her want to throw the stick away.

She knew who her family was. Yet the fact that this man knew so much about her and then also had information that contradicted everything she knew.

A moment later and she turned on her heel and quickly made her way into the change rooms to get out of her wet clothes. She moved fast, not making eye contact or speaking to anyone. Anna wanted to get out to her car as soon as she could.

She ended up being one of the first instructors out of the change rooms.

In fact, Daniel walked out of the men's room just as he saw Anna take off down the road in her car.

"Damn it," he cursed, knowing he'd have to follow her. He had hoped that he would have made it out in time to speak with Coulson to see what had happened. Now, he could only venture to guess what happened.

Daniel tossed his bag into the back seat of his car before quickly getting into the driver's seat. He pulled up the S.H.I.E.L.D issue private GPS system and brought up Anna's tracking device.

He started the car and made his way to follow the path she had taken. When he saw that she was not heading home but further away from Boca Raton and home and into Boynton Beach, he was not only confused but concerned.

Finally, he pulled up alongside the curb across the street from where the tracking system stopped. He looked at the building where Anna had disappered into.

The Boynton Beach City Library.

* * *

Anna walked through the quiet library making her way to the first vacant computer terminal. She found one with no one else nearby. Somehow she knew she'd need privacy when she saw the contents of that USB stick. Anna knew that it would be quicker to just head home, but she had to figure this out first an on her own.

Within the USB stick there were 5 files - one PDF, 2 jpg's, 1 document and 1 video. She clicked on the PDF, realizing that it was that algorythm that the man, Coulson had told her about. The first few lines intrigued her and she was about to read a bit more of it when she noticed the video file. It wasn't long; 5 minutes at most. Anna was about to click on it but thought better than doing that and instead turned to the document. It was that same copy of a birth certificate that Coulson had shown her.

She reread it over and over. She had never heard the name Virginia Potts before but she certainly knew who Anthony Stark was.

Everyone knew about him, what he had done in his life and that he had died many years ago. To her, he was nothing more than a man who was occaisonally referred to in the media. Stark Industries had long ago gone bankrupt and was no longer an operating company. If his name was brought up these days, it was as an example. She had learned a lot about him during her time at Caltech. Of course, everyone remembered him in history as the man who declared that he was Ironman.

Anna quickly searched her Mom's name, Virginia Porter. After trying variations of spelling, each time, nothing came up. It wasn't until she searched for Virginia Potts that links connecting this woman with Tony Stark appeared. She felt her breath hitch in her throat when she saw the woman being referred to as Pepper Potts. Pepper was a nickname that she knew her father called her Mom. There were many news articles featuring Pepper Potts and Tony Stark. It wasn't until she actually found a image of this woman called Pepper Potts that Anna felt her heart beating in her chest.

She was looking at a younger image of her Mom on the cover of a Fortune magazine with Tony Stark at her side. Anna didn't know how long she stared at it but finally she went back to her initial search and saw a featured article from the New York Times from 18 years ago with the headline, 'CEO and Owner of Stark Industries Dead'.

She clicked on it and a large image of twisted metal, that one could only presume was once a car filled the main page. Her eyes scanned the article and quickly read parts under her breath.

"...when the car they were travelling veered off the Sunrise highway around 2am. Police investigators have yet to determine a cause for the crash. There were no witnesses at the time of the incident. Tony Stark was travelling with his long-time girlfriend and Stark CEO, Virginia Potts and their daughter, Anna. A representative from Stark Industries has stated that they are sadened by the news of the untimely deaths of the owner and CEO and will release funeral information in time."

Her eyes scanned the rest of the article and found an image that was obviously taken from a distance away and was stated to have been taken two weeks prior to their deaths. It featured a shirtless Tony Stark on board a large yacht. In his arms, he held a small child in a bathing suit who was saving back at the cameras while Tony held up a peace sign at them. Beside them was undoubtedly, her Mom in a bathing suit, wearing sunglasses and a large beach hat.

Anna wasn't certain if she was going to be sick or if she was about to pass out. Had she stopped breathing for a moment? Did she actually believe it?

As the feelings of shock wore off, confusion set in.

Why didn't anyone tell her? She was an adult and could have handled knowing that her father wasn't the man who raised her. Not once had she heard the name Tony Stark in their household.

And why did a man off the street, who claimed to not only know her but was there when she was born, feel the need to tell her all of this? And why now?

She was angry. Not at her parents, but at this man for turning her life upsidedown.

Anna quickly closed the video file, and opened the document, seeing that it was a scanned copy of that same birth certificate she had seen earlier.

Her eyes went back to the JPG files and she opened one of them.

It was a candid photo of her Mom sitting beside Tony Stark on a bed. Neither one seemed to notice that someone was taking a picture of them. Tony was smiling broadly at the small bundle in his arms while Pepper reached over, as to tuck the blanket down that was wrapped around the newborn. Anna closed it and clicked on the other one. She was instantly looking into the smiling face of that same man who she had met at the pool; Phil Coulson. He held that same wrapped up infant in the same blanket, but this time Anna could see the face.

Anna put her hand to her mouth.

That was her. In their hallway at home, Pepper had hung Anna's newborn photo; one of the few she had on display in the house. It was undoubtedly the same baby.

The feeling of anger seemed to bubble up a bit more as she quickly shut down the files and paused at the birth certificate. She sent the document to the pirnter and pulled the USB stick from the computer. Anna had seen enough.

She got up and headed straight for the printer, grabbing the copy that she had printed moments earlier and walked out of the library. She didn't even pause to smile or exchange a 'have a good day' with the library staff. Anna was oblivious to everyone around her. Her mind was still reeling over what she had just seen, trying to make sense of it all. When she finally got to her car, she sat down and let out a breath before putting her head down on the steering wheel. The sound of a vibration caught her attention and it was then she realized that in her rush to get into the library she had left her cell phone in the car and someone was calling. She reached for it, preparing to answer when she saw who was calling. The words, MOM illuminated on the screen. Anna let it go to voicemail and then realized she had five missed calls, all from her Mom.

Everything she knew was wrong.

Tears of hurt filled her eyes as she clenched her teeth and squeezed the steering wheel. After a few seconds, she wiped her eyes and turned on the car. She couldn't go home; not yet. She had no idea how she was going to walk into her house and confront this. She didn't want to.

* * *

The rear yard had been cleaned up, the grass was mowed and the pool was open. Pepper knew that Anna never liked having large parties; she was never the life of the party and preferred having a few people over. So, the setting was perfect. Their closest friends whom they would always refer to as their family were the only ones invited. Although Anna didn't know it, they were all instrumental in helping Pepper and Anna those first few years after Tony had died. Natasha had been a great friend, with whom Pepper could express her motherly concerns with; after all, Natasha had a son of her own, Daniel, who had been a welcomed surprise in her life. It wasn't long after that, that both Natasha and Steve had decided to leave S.H.I.E.L.D altogether for the sake of Daniel's safety. They had seen firsthand how their lives could affect their small family.

Also as a surprise, Happy and Pepper had flown Bruce Banner to Florida for the party, inviting him to stay with them for the week as well. He was initially reluctant but eventually agreed. Bruce used to make yearly visits to their Boca Raton home. As Anna grew up, he kept record of her blood analysis; all of which he did inhouse at his lab. It had been a few years since they had seen him last. He had felt confident that Anna would be fine with nothing more than her allergies and asthma to bother her.

Her Uncle Rhody had made it as well. Next to Happy, he had been the closest father figure she had after Tony's death. He had been Tony's closest friend and he had already felt a kinship towards Anna long before Tony passed away.

As Happy was busy calling Anna once again from Pepper's cell phone, Rhody put a glass of cold water in front of Pepper.

"She's probably fine," he told her as he sat down.

Natasha nodded as she glanced over her shoulder to where Steve was on his own cell phone by the otherside of the pool.

"Steve is calling Daniel," she told her. "Chances are, they had a meeting at the pool after work and they're running behind. It is her birthday so the pool might have surprised her with something."

Pepper nodded and smiled. "You're probably right. It's just that...I worry. I've worried about her her entire life."

And it was not just about her health, but the fear that someone would recognize one of them, throwing their entire cover of 18 years out the window. But as Anna grew up and Pepper herself had changed with age, the likelyhood decreased.

Natasha shrugged. "You're a Mom. It's your job. I can relate."

Pepper knew that Natasha could. She couldn't imagine Anna leaving for two years to a far off country and only hear from her every few months. She knew Natasha was a wreck during that time, even though she held her composure and optimism so well. She had been trained to deal with stressful situations, but nothing compares to that when it involves your own child.

"You said that she knew about the party," Bruce said from where he sat. "Is there any chance that she'd not show up?"

Pepper shook her head. "If she knew this was a big party, then perhaps she would. But not this one. It's just not like her."

She looked up as Steve made his way towards the patio table where they were sitting by the pool.

"Well, Daniel said he left work shortly after Anna did," he said grimly. "He's already been home to get changed and was on his way here when I called. He said he'll take a quick drive around and see if he can find her."

At that same moment, Happy walked up to them.

"Anything?" Pepper asked, hopefully.

He shook his head. "Rings a bit and then goes to voice mail. I'll give her another half hour and then I'm going out looking for her."

"I'll join you," Steve stated.

With a nod of his head, Rhody added, "me too."

* * *

Anna sat on the beach. She had long abandonned her shoes and dug her toes into the sand. She loved the beach and had for as long as she could remember. Her parents had taken her to the ocean nearly every weekend throughout the summers when she was a child. Pepper would comment many times how grateful she was that Anna never inherited her ability to burn so easily in the sun. The child would tan nicely and sit by the waters edge, digging for hours with Happy while Pepper would lather herself up in high SPF sunscreen.

Now, she wondered if it was Tony Stark whom she had inhereted that trait from. She wondered how much she was like him. Things, like her sense of humour, Anna always assumed was a trait she got from her Dad. Happy and Anna would find certain things to be funny while Pepper would just roll her eyes. Now, she wondered if it was actually a trait that she had inherited from Tony Stark. It threw everything she had ever thought about herself into question. One thing that would never change was that she loved her father.

She wished she could go back to that time where she didn't have a care in the world. Happy was her Father, as much as anyone tried to prove it otherwise. He always has been. She had no recollection of Tony Stark in her mind. But what she had seen and heard began to confuse her. She wished she hadn't seen them. She just wanted to forget.

Anna reached for the can of Heineken beside her and downed a good gulp before setting it back in the sand beside the other empty one.

She was an occasional social drinker, but when one discovers their entire life isn't what it was supposed to be, that goes out the window. It had been years since she was drunk; last time being the night she dropped out of Caltech when she vowed she'd never get drunk again. But here she was, already feeling that buzz and it felt good. Anna laid back in the sand and closed her eyes, listening to the calm, soothing sound of the ocean waves.

The beach had been vacant except for the occasional dog owner walking their pets along the shore. So, when she saw a shadow suddenly come over her face, she squinted and looked up.

"You do know that drinking is prohibited on this beach," Daniel said, blocking the sun from her face.

"Don't be such a party pooper. It's my birthday. I can drink wherever I want! Want to join me?"

She held up a can towards him.

"Not today." He smiled and sat down in the sand beside her.

"Who sent you to find me?" she asked.

"Your parents are worried," he told her.

Parents.

Anna scoffed as she began to chuckle. 'If only he knew.'

She put her arm over her face, preventing the sun from going into her eyes.

"What's going on with you?" he asked, knowing full well that it had something to do with what Coulson had told her. Even though he had an idea what Coulson approached her for, he hadn't a clue as to what it was or why he was assigned to protect her for the past few years. He knew Anna was smart and S.H.I.E.L.D had been keeping track of her grades over the years. Whatever it was, it had to be big.

"Nothing is going on," she told him.

"You're lying. I know you that well," Daniel said. He paused for a moment. "Was it something that man at the pool said to you?"

Anna opened her eyes and squinted at Daniel.

"Why? Did he say anything to you?"

Daniel shrugged. "Just that he wanted to speak with you and that it was urgent."

Anna closed her eyes again and sighed.

"What did he tell you?"

Anna groaned. "Things I'd like to forget."

"Like what?"

She took a deep breath and sat up in the sand, brushing the dust off her arms before looking at Daniel. "Have you ever heard of this organziation called S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D? Can't say that I have," he said, feigning confusion.

"Aparantly, according to this guy it was my grandfather who founded S.H.I.E.L.D and now S.H.I.E.L.D is wanting me to help them with some sort of algorythm that my father started."

"Your father?"

This time Daniel was genuinely confused. He had known his Uncle Happy for his entire life and not once was he aware of any connection between him and S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I didn't know that Uncle Happy could work a computer on his own, much less create an algorithm."

Anna nodded in agreement and laughed as she picked up the Heineken beside her and swallowed another big gulp.

"He can't," Anna confirmed. "He isn't my father."

When she saw Daniel's confused face, she continued.

"Well, he is my father, but biologically, he isn't."

Anna herself, still had trouble believing it. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the awkwardly folded piece of paper. Anna handed it to Daniel.

Daniel looked at her wearily as he unfolded the paper and began to read. Anna watched his expression and then held out the can towards him.

"Want a drink now?"

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, re-reading the birth certificate over again.

When Daniel didn't accept the Heineken, Anna took a gulp in his place.

"You're telling me."

After all these years of working with S.H.I.E.L.D, taking on the assignment to keep an eye on Anna Hogan and then protect her, he had never been told who she really was. Yet, it had began to make sense.

"This is your Mom," he said, pointing at the paper. "And Tony Stark."

"Explains my genuisness," she stated, slightly slurring as she spoke.

Daniel glanced over at her, seeing her eyes taking on a glazed look.

"How much have you been drinking?"

"Not much," she replied. "I'm totally in control."

Daniel looked past her at the two cans and sighed.

"Come on," he said as he stood up. "I'll drive you home. You're missing your own birthday party and I've been instructed to bring you home."

She waved him off.

"You can go to the party."

"I'm not leaving without you," he told her, as he looked out at the Atlantic ocean sitting just a mere twenty feet in front of them.

"I don't need a baby sitter, Rogers," she quipped, reverting to using his last name as she often did when she was getting ticked with him. "I'm a big girl."

"Says who? Your friend, Mr. Heineken here?"

Anna actually laughed out loud at the bad joke and raised her hand, slapping Daniel on his leg. "That's a good one - Mr. Heineken!"

"Yeah, I think you've had enough to drink," he told her as he reached down and grabbed her wrists and pulled her up to stand, nearly effortlessly.

He wasn't certain if it was the alcohol or her suddenly being pulled to her feet that caused her to sway. Either way, Daniel held onto her, steadying her in the deep sand as she grabbed ahold of his shirt to keep herself upright.

"I think I drank too much," she affirmed, causing Daniel to smile before he bent over to pick up her shoes from the sand.

As he stood back upright, he noticed Anna run away from him towards the treeline, her hand over her mouth. For a moment, he didn't know what was going on until he heard the tell-tale sound of someone throwing up.

Daniel sighed as he walked after her. When he reached the tree that Anna held onto to keep herself upright, he pulled her hair back from around her face.

"Thanks," he heard her mumble, as she caught her breath.

"Can't hold your liquor, huh Hogan?"

His attempt at lightening the situation caused her to chuckle lightly.

"Not funny Rogers."

Daniel smiled and put his hand around her waist before he ushered her back towards his car in the parking lot.

"Let's get you home."

* * *

Anna had sobered up a bit on their way back to the house, but she still felt aweful. She rested her head against the passenger side window and closed her eyes, not wanting the reality of the situation to sink back into her life. Anna wanted answers, but those answers frightened her.

When Daniel pulled the car into the driveway, Anna felt sick to her stomach once again, and it wasn't because she was beginning to feel hungover. Not only were her parents going to be there, but there were a few other cars, some that she didn't recognize. This wasn't the way her 21st birthday was supposed to be.

Daniel paused and looked over at her, seeing as Anna hadn't moved when he turned off the engine.

"You can't stay in the car forever," he told her, softly.

Silently, she nodded and opened the car door. All the while, Daniel watched her. As she walked towards the backgate, tears already in her eyes, he was right behind her.

"I don't want to do this," she whispered as she put her hand on the wooden gate. Behind it, she could hear the sounds of conversation and music coming from a radio. Daniel put his hand on her shoulder and Anna closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she pulled it open.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N - Thank you for the reviews/follows/favourites... Any suggestions? I'm open to them... I have a general idea of where I'm going with this, but if anyone has some suggestions on scenes to add along the way or instances, I'll see if I can squeeze them in along the way. I'm planning on doing a bit of flashbacks to when Anna or Daniel were children...pre-Tony's death...

* * *

Anna could put on a pretty good act when it came to fooling her teachers in the past, claiming that she wasn't feeling well only for them to call Happy or Pepper to the school. One look at their daughter, and they could see through the facade. So, Anna knew it would be only a few moments before they would realize that something was wrong. Still, Anna put a smile on her face as she walked into the backyard. She knew Daniel followed behind her and closed the gate shut after they had walked through.

"There you are! We were getting worried," Happy exclaimed, turning from the barbecue when he noticed that Steve had looked past him towards the gate. "We were just about to set the cavalry after you."

"I took a detour home," Anna said, noticing that all eyes were on her. She scanned the group, noticing the visitors were all people she knew. She barely even noticed Pepper walk up to her until she was right beside her. "Daniel found me."

Her mothers scrutinizing eyes gazed into her own. Something wasn't right and Pepper knew it. After a beat, Pepper reached out to feel Anna's forehead. Anna backed up out of her reach and chuckled.

"I'm fine, Mom," she told her with a smile and a slight slur in her voice. "Really."

"You don't sound fine," Pepper said unconvinced, before she leaned in slightly. Her face scowled, smelling the distinct smell of alcohol. "Have you been drinking?"

At that assumption, Happy walked towards them and stood beside Pepper.

Seeing them standing side by side, she was reminded of everything she had learned over the past few short hours. Her father wasn't really her father, yet to her, he still was. Inwardly, she mourned that and at the same time she was angry for how her perception of him had changed. Anna just wanted to run; to scream. Behind them, people who were their friends but felt more like family, watched with genuine concern. She had known them for her entire life. Surely one of them would have known the truth of who her father was. Questions filled her mind as to why no one had said anything.

Bitterly, she reached into her pocket and slowly pulled out the paper before unfolding it. It felt like a heavy weight in her hand. After a final glance at it, she held it out towards her Father who carefully took it. He watched Anna's face with concern and turned to Pepper beside him as he began to read it.

Happy wasn't ready for the pain in his chest to hit him so hard. He hadn't seen that name written so plainly in front of him for years. Pepper glanced down at it and recognized it instantly as something she hadn't seen in nearly two decades; ever since S.H.I.E.L.D worked so hard to cover their tracks, give them new identities complete with birth certificates and valid social insurance numbers. To the world, Pepper Potts and Anna Stark were dead and Harold Hogan had disappeared into the wind.

Seeing the expression on Pepper's face before she grasped ahold of Happy's hand, Anna knew it was true but she had to hear it.

"That's me, isn't it?"

Pepper swallowed, trying to find her own voice again and ignored her question with asking her own. "Where did you get this?"

Anna quickly countered with a question of her own. She was determined to get answers and her parents obvious avoidance of the truth was making her angry.

"Is it true?"

Pepper skipped a beat and looked back down at the birth certificate and nodded.

Anna felt the wind being knocked out of her and unconsciously took a deep breath. She put a hand to her chest, feeling it tighten slightly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Anna, please understand," Pepper said nearly breathlessly. Seeing the desperation and pain in Anna's intoxicated eyes mirrored so much of Tony's that it hurt to look at her.

"I understand completely," Anna exclaimed, her voice getting louder. "You've been lying to me!"

By now, the guests in the yard knew exactly what was going on. They had all been privy to the secret and respected Tony's last wishes regarding his daughter. In one way or another, they all felt the responsibility of keeping both the secret and Anna safe.

"We haven't lied to you," Pepper replied sternly. "We are still your parents. That hasn't changed."

Anna scoffed bitterly and rolled her eyes as she began to rant. "Well, according to history, I'm supposed to be dead. Hell, you're supposed to be dead! Your maiden name on that birth certificate is different. A crack-pot organization called S.H.I.E.L.D exists and my dead grandfather who I never knew was my grandfather was a founder! It makes total sense why I was always elbow deep in physics and finite textbooks while my friends were reading frickin' Harry Potter. My dead biological father was a genius and the only thing I know about him is that he was Iron Man. Why didn't you...?"

She took a breath, found the inhale a little difficult and coughed. Anna wiped the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks away with her hands as she took another breath.

'Damn' she thought as she realized that she was about to break her 6 month streak of not having to use her asthma medication.

"Anna?" Pepper said, reaching out towards her daughter with concern upon hearing the telltale sound of an impending asthma attack. She'd recognize it even if she was blindfolded. The stress of the situation had finally gotten to Anna and it was manifesting physically in the easiest way it knew how.

"Don't touch me!" Anna attempted to exclaim but instead only a wheeze came out as her mouth moved.

Ignoring her request, Pepper was at her side knowing that Anna wouldn't get to argue with her about it. She put her arm around her daughter's waist and brought her towards the patio table. The chairs were already vacated and the guests had parted, seeing as there was now a medical issue. Anna sat down in the closest chair and focused on breathing.

"Anna, where is your puffer?" Pepper asked sternly.

She didn't answer but merely pointed at her bag that she had dropped on the ground by the gate.

Happy turned and went to get it, dumping the contents of the bag onto the grass in an attempt to find the nebulizer faster.

Meanwhile, Anna closed her eyes, focusing on breathing in and out and felt her Mom's hands on her knees while she spoke to her calmly. A pair of cool hands rested on her shoulders, bringing a relief to the overwhelming heat she was feeling at the same time. Someone suddenly grabbed her hand and shoved the puffer into her palm. Even with he eyes closed, she fumbled with it and brought it to her mouth before inhaling the medication.

The relief was slight but instantly noticeable. She was starting to relax and took another dose just to ease her lungs even more. It was then that she could hear a voice right above her reminding her to breathe in and out, like a mantra. It took Anna a moment to realize the voice belonged to Dr. Banner and it was his hands that were on her shoulders.

Anna opened her eyes, seeing more than a few pairs of eyes looking at her with concern.

She smiled curtly and looked at her Mom in front of her.

"Better?" Pepper asked.

Anna nodded as Natasha held out a glass of cool water out towards her. Without a word, Anna accepted it and took a drink.

"Have you had an attack recently?" Bruce asked her.

Anna tipped her head and looked up at the man standing above her and shook her head. "Not for a long time. So much for having it under control."

"It'll always be there, just beneath the surface. You always have to be prepared for it," Bruce told her.

"But It was probably stress and anxiety that caused it. That, along with the alcohol in your system probably didn't help."

Anna sighed, feeling the tightness leaving her chest and leaned back in the chair. "Well, when one is given news that sounds so bizarre and it turns out to be real, one tends to drink excessively."

Happy was standing beside her, holding the birth certificate in his hands.

"Anna, we need to know who gave this to you," Happy asked softly, gesturing to the birth certificate. "It's important."

Anna shrugged, the memory coming back and the flood of emotions that came with it. She ran her hands over her face. "I don't remember his name. Some guy came to the pool today." She paused. "He talked to Daniel too."

All eyes turned to Daniel Rogers.

"What did he say to you?" Steve asked.

Daniel shrugged. "Nothing much. He was asking to speak with Anna."

Natasha looked at her son.

"What did look like?"

"An older man in his mid-sixties I'd say," Daniel stated with a shrug. "He didn't look unusual except he was wearing a suit coat and tie and dark sun glasses. He must have been sweltering in the heat. Anna was working at the time and I told him he could wait on the bleachers until she was done."

"And you just left her out there with him?" Steve asked.

"He was just an old man," Anna stated. "What could he have done?"

"Looks can be deceiving," Steve quipped.

"Either way, he was nice," Anna said. "Said that he was in charge of some organization called S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Coulson," Pepper suddenly stated, looking to Happy. "It had to have been him. He would have all of that information."

Anna swallowed. "So, this is all true. All of it."

For a few beats no one spoke. It had been an agreement they had made years ago that they would never speak of the day that Stark had died and would never bring his name up in front of Anna. It was Stark's final request and to suddenly go against that, felt wrong.

"Your Dad asked that you wouldn't know about it," Happy suddenly said. "He wanted to keep you safe."

Anna found it odd hearing her own father speak of someone else as being her Dad. His face appeared distant and she couldn't read how he was feeling.

Honestly, it pained him to tell Anna the truth. He loved her as though she was his own and never wanted to hurt her or keep the truth from her.

"Safe from what?"

Again, no one was willing to volunteer information at first. Yet as they glanced around the small table and began to sat down, the story was told. Details emerged from each of them; each of their own points of view. They explained everything from Loki's first visit to his last one that ended Tony's life. Pepper explained how they liquidated Stark stocks into a dummy corporation in the Cayman Islands and sent the funds there along with all of Tony's assets. Daniel sat quietly and listened. He hadn't heard the stories either, except for the reports that he had read at S.H.I.E.L.D. He had known that his parents were important to humanity's survival, but never to the extent that they explained.

"What I want to know is, why did Coulson feel the need to bring this to Anna's attention? Why now?" Natasha asked, looking up at Steve.

Steve simply shrugged. "I haven't been in contact with S.H.I.E.L.D for probably 15 years now. I haven't seen the man, let alone heard from him."

Anna reached into her pocket and held the USB drive in her hand.

"He gave me this," she said, placing it on the table. "I've already taken a look at it. It has a few files on it; the birth certificate, a few photos, a video and a large program algorithm on PDF that he said Tony was working on prior to his death. He wanted me to take a look at it and see if I could help finish it."

"But why Anna?" Pepper suddenly asked. "I'm sure that S.H.I.E.L.D has their own army of people who could help."

Banner reached forward and took the USB drive from the table. He sighed. "Probably because he knows that being Stark's daughter, she could probably figure it out." He paused and looked at Anna.

"Did you take a look at the algorithm?"

Anna nodded. "Just the beginning of it. The theory behind it is interesting. He called it the Relativity Project."

Anna found it odd even referring to Stark as her Dad. Although he was, she couldn't call him that. For the moment, the revelation that Tony Stark was her father was sidelined by the algorithm.

"Relativity?" Pepper asked, a smile coming to her face. "I remember him working on something with that name. He'd be up for days working on it and he'd try to explain it to me more than a few times. He said it was something to do with time travel."

"Time travel?" Rhody asked. "Is that even possible?"

"I don't even know if having that sort of power in S.H.I.E.L.D's hands is even a wise decision," Natasha added.

Banner put the USB drive back on the table and nodded. "It is intriguing to say the least."

Anna reached forward and took the USB drive and turned it in her hand. "It can't hurt to take a look. A peek maybe."

Pepper could see Tony in Anna's eyes as she spoke. A challenge was something Tony would never turn down, and neither would Anna. Moments later, Anna was gone from the table with Banner at her side, eager to see what his old colleague had created and offered to lend his assistance. Pepper was left at the table with Happy, Natasha, Steve, Rhody and Daniel. With a sigh, Happy turned to them.

"We may as well eat," he said. "I doubt they'll be back anytime soon."

This certainly wasn't what he was expecting the day would go when he woke that morning.

* * *

As the sun set and the warmth of the day cooled, Happy sat outside on the patio step while everyone had gone inside. The only sound was the hum of the pool filter and the crickets singing in the night. The stars had come out and he glanced up to look at them when he heard the patio door open. He didn't turn to see who it was until he saw Daniel walk around him and get the bottle of water he had left on the table earlier.

"Heading out?" Happy asked as Daniel turned and walked back towards him.

Daniel smiled and nodded.

"I never thanked you for finding and bringing Anna home," Happy told him.

"It wasn't a problem," Daniel said with a shrug. "I was in the area and was lucky enough to find her."

"You're a good man, Daniel," Happy said, smiling. "It's a shame things didn't work out between you and Anna."

Daniel smiled shyly and looked down, looking more like his father when he was embarrassed than any other time. He ran his hand through his hair.

Their past relationship wasn't a secret. It was short-lived. They simply believed that it would be easier to remain as friends and beat the odd of those who promise they'll remain friends after a breakup and actually kept that promise. Although Daniel cared deeply for Anna, he knew especially now with his assignment to protect her, that any relationship with her wouldn't have helped; any relationship would hinder his mission.

"Well, the feeling is mutual," he said, knowing there was a lot more than that that messed up his initial relationship with Anna years ago. "But I am glad that I can still be in her life."

"With everything that has happened, she needs that consistency," Happy said, looking out at the placidness of the pool. "I appreciate you being there for her."

"Thank you, sir," Daniel said, softly. "Have a good night," he added after a beat.

Daniel walked into the house and closed the patio door behind him, once again leaving Happy alone. He returned to looking up at the stars and leaned back on his arms. When he heard the patio door open once again, he glanced over his shoulder expecting Daniel had returned. He was pleasantly surprised to see Anna walk out and sit down beside him. He didn't say a word as he watched her copy his pose before looking up at the stars with him.

"What are you looking for?" she finally asked.

Happy smiled. "Nothing in particular. I was just thinking." He paused for a moment before continuing. "But I have been worried about you. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good, considering," she quipped with a chuckle. "I don't think I've digested everything yet. It's a little overwhelming. It'll take a while."

Happy cleared his throat. "I feel like I should apologize for not telling you about your real...uh...Tony...your, uh...Dad."

Saying the word 'Dad' felt so odd and it couldn't even fall from his lips. For Happy, he was her father; for the past 18 years of her life, that's all he's been to her. Anna noticed his hesitation and slipped her arm around his own and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Dad, you are my real dad," Anna told him. "And I understand why you didn't say anything about him. He told you not to and you honoured that."

Happy felt tears prick at his eyes and he turned and placed a kiss on the top of her head before looking back up at the stars. His biggest worry was that all of this would change his relationship with Anna.

"I love you so much," Happy said. "I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you in my life."

"I'm not going anywhere, Dad," Anna told him with a chuckle. She paused and wiped a tear that had fallen from her eyes. It had felt like she had been crying off and on all day, and in actuality, she had never stopped. "Am I anything like him?

Happy glanced down at Anna where her head was resting against his shoulder.

"Who? Tony?"

He saw her nod. Happy looked back up at the stars and sighed.

"In some respects, you are and other aspects, you're more like your Mom and I have to admit, a bit like me," he told her. "Your humour and your laugh sometimes remind me of Stark. Oh and when you were going through that stage a few years ago when you were so rebellious, I'm certain your Mom and I grew more grey hairs in that time than any other season in your life. It was as though a younger Tony Stark was living through you."

"I wasn't that bad, was I?"

Happy chuckled. "You have no idea." He paused for a moment. "And you're brilliant like him."

Anna didn't agree with that. She scoffed lightly.

"According to that algorithm Tony started, he's light years ahead of me when it comes to being smart. Uncle Bruce is helping out and seems to understand it a whole lot better than I can. I came out here to take a break and get some fresh air. My head was starting to hurt trying to make heads or tails of it," she stated. "I'm not sure if it's because of this hangover or if it's the algorithm."

"You'll get it," Happy assured her as he pushed himself up onto his feet. He turned and held his hand out to her to which she took ahold of and was pulled up to stand. "You don't give up. You're like Tony in that way too." Happy paused for a moment. "Except his tenaciousness often led to destruction."

Anna chuckled as they walked inside together. "And what do you call causing that fire in the garage when I was fourteen?"

Happy laughed and shook his head.

"That fire was nothing compared to the destruction that Tony did in his lifetime."

* * *

It took Natasha many years before their home in Delray actually felt like home. Her life had been filled with moving from place to place and she never sat somewhere long enough to put down roots. It had become defence mechanism that was important in her line of work. She could never get emotionally attached to anything or anyone. It wasn't until one accidental evening of drinking alongside Steve 22 years earlier. It had been years since someone looked at her with desire and she found herself dropping her guard for him. Natasha soon found out how much one night could have an impact on her life. She had long assumed that she was sterile and had believed it over the years. It was more than a surprise when she found the reason why she had been feeling sick for more than two weeks. The doctor's at S.H.I.E.L.D couldn't explain it and even attributed it to perhaps Steve Rogers' DNA. They were even more shocked to find that she hadn't miscarried as it was the assumption right from the beginning. She was told to not get her hopes up and it wasn't until she finally felt those first few fluttered movements within her that she thought that it was possible that she could love something she had never seen before.

Steve, ever the old-fashioned man stood by her side and although she pushed him away and played the role of being a strong, independent woman and not in need of his assistance, he was persistent. Natasha soon found herself falling for him when she never thought she'd open her heart to anyone. Not only had Steve made a way into her heart but her child was already there, whether she knew it then or not.

Daniel had grown into a man; nearly every inch like his father. Natasha was proud that within Daniel, her spark was there. He not only had her eyes but he also had that fire within him.

Natasha looked over where Daniel was sitting at the kitchen table, his head resting on his arms as he slept in front of his laptop. She had been careful to be quiet when she woke up, realizing that he was most likely up for most of the night. For what reason, she didn't know.

Natasha walked over to Daniel, preparing to wake him when she glanced at the laptop. The screensaver had long gone off and the laptop had gone into sleep mode. She gently touched his arm and spoke his name causing his head to dart up quickly.

"Good morning!" she stated, walking back to the kitchen. "Party too hard last night?"

Daniel ran his hands over his face, and looked down at the laptop.

"Just doing some reading," he replied. "I can't believe I fell asleep."

"Must not have been too interesting," Natasha stated. "Your Dad was going to wake you to see if you wanted to go for a run this morning with him, but he didn't have the heart to wake you."

"Probably best that he didn't," Daniel said as he stood up. "It's borderline embarassing to have him lap me around the block."

Natasha chuckled. "You keep up better than most."

Daniel shrugged. It was true that no one else could stand up to the rigors of jogging with Steve Rogers, better than Daniel.

He was about to go downstairs to change as he had been wearing the same clothes for 24 hours now when the entire house began to shook. Natasha had experienced earthquakes yet this felt different. Still, she ran to the doorframe and met Daniel there at the same time just as Steve burst through the front door.

"We have to go!" he exclaimed, completelly out of breath.

Natasha was about to ask what was going on when she could see the branches of the tree in their front yard whip around in the wind. Landing right on their cul-de-sac was the quin-jet with a familiar looking man walking out towards them.

Natasha instinctively pushed at Daniel to go towards Steve at the door and walked out to meet the man now walking onto their sidewalk.

"Sorry for the interruption," Coulson quipped. "But you should all come with me."

"What's going on?" Natasha asked, as she caught Steve's gaze towards the southern skyline.

"The Chitauri and Loki are back," Coulson said. "We need to leave now. He has his army searching every major city."

"For Anna?"

"Not just Anna," Coulson said. "For all the Avengers."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N - Sorry for the delay - it's summer and the weather is finally beautiful out.

* * *

Anna sighed and leaned back in the chair in front of the desktop computer and stretched. She reached for her coffee mug and brought it to her lips. Anna winced upon tasting the cooled bitter coffee and put the cup back down on the desk. She ran her hands over her face and noticed the early morning light beginning to lighten through the blinds. Anna was thankful that her hangover headache was starting to subside since she took more aspirins an hour earlier. The light would have been havoc for her head.

She considered getting up for more coffee when she heard the sound of snoring coming from the futon behind her. She looked over her shoulder and chuckled.

Bruce Banner had laid down at the same time as when she took the aspirins with the promise to just close his eyes for a few minutes in order to digest what they had been reading before getting up to give her the chance to rest. When he had pulled off his glasses and then covered his face with his forearm, it was only a matter of time before he had fallen asleep. They had gotten up to speed as to what Tony had been theorizing and started to break apart the algorithm by each figure. Dr. Banner had been a big asset for things she simply didn't understand and they actually started to make some headway. It began to seem to Anna that all that seemed to be missing was some sort of power source. Not surprisingly, the power source that she had in mind didn't even exist.

Anna saved what they did do and closed the program. She was about to pull out the USB drive when that video file caught her eyes. After a moment hesitation, she clicked on it and the screen opened up to a frozen image of a room. A few cars sat in the background. Anna clicked on play and watched as the static image began to widen.

 _"Jarvis, how does it look?"_ a voice asked loudly off screen. _"I don't want any cropped heads. We may only get this one chance today."_

Anna turned down the volume in order to not disturb Bruce behind her. It wasn't a voice she recognized but still she watched, curious to know why it would be included on the drive.

 _"The angle is perfect, sir,"_ replied a voice with a light British accent.

Suddenly a dark haired man walked forward towards where the image of a matted area which Anna assumed to be in a garage, considering the row of fancy and most likely expensive cars in the background. When he turned, it was then that Anna saw that he was carrying a small child on one arm, possibly no older than a year. It was obvious by the pink camo t-shirt and polka dotted leggings that it was a little girl. Her hair was nothing more than dark wisps on her head that would barely make a small ponytail.

Anna's heart was pounding. She knew that was her - she'd seen baby photo's of herself countless times.

She watched as the man quickly sat her down on the mats before darting offscreen. She barely sat there for more than a second before she began to crawl off in the direction the man had disappeared.

" _Anna, honey,_ " the voice off screen said before she heard footsteps and the man reappear onscreen. He scooped her up and sat her back on the mats. " _Just do this one thing for me today._ "

Her hand paused the screen on the man as he passed by the camera.

Tony Stark.

Anna finally saw his face clearly. The moustache, goatee and dark hair making him instantly recognizable.

She began the video again and watched as Tony knelt down on the mats in front her.

" _J, I'm trusting you that you've got us in the frame,_ " Tony called out, as he encouraged Anna to stand on her feet before he quickly scooted backward; all the while keeping his eye on the baby. A few times, she lost her balance and touched the ground before pushing herself back up to stand.

Over and over, she heard Tony encourage and speak in high tones, causing the baby to laugh and smile at him.

" _Come on,_ " he cooed. " _We're going to prove to Mommy that you can walk. No more of this crawling on the floor stuff._ "

Realizing that the distance between them was too daunting for Anna, he slid on his knees closer to her, closing the gap to a mere two feet. Tony reached out with one finger which the baby grabbed ahold and took a step forward, her other arm in the air for balance before she quickly took another two before falling onto Tony's lap triumphantly.

" _I call that, close enough!"_ Tony exclaimed before he rolled onto his back, holding the baby up before sitting her on his stomach. The baby laid her head down on his chest, right under his chin. Anna watched as Tony ran his hand over the baby's head.

" _Did you get that Jarvis?"_ Tony called out from where he laid on the ground.

" _I did sir,_ " came that same voice as earlier.

" _What's going on here_?" came a happy voice from off screen, yet Anna recognized it immediately. It seemed the baby did as well since her head resting on Tony's chest suddenly shot up.

Her Mom.

" _Uh oh, kiddo_ ," Tony said, pushing himself up to sit on the mats with Anna on his lap. " _We're busted_."

Anna watched as he regarded the woman as she approached them on the mats and crouched down in front of them. For the first time, Anna realized that it was indeed her Mom. _"I thought you were working late. You had that meeting with the guys from Hong Kong, I think it was._ "

 _"It was moved to tomorrow,_ " Pepper told him, reaching out and taking the baby from his lap and stood up. " _Storms in their area caused some flight cancellations. So, I am home early so I can spend the evening with you and Anna_."

Tony pushed to stand up beside Pepper.

" _Thank you Hong Kong,_ " Tony said with a smirk as he leaned in and kissed Pepper.

Pepper smiled and broke the kiss, as she felt Anna put her head on her shoulder.

" _Someone is getting tired_ ," Pepper commented.

"Y _eah, I tuckered her out_ ," Tony admitted, as he reached over and rubbed Anna's back with his hand. " _But I did get her to walk_."

" _What?!_ " Pepper exclaimed, excidely. " _She's walking?"_

Tony shrugged. " _More like falling with style, but it was close. Yeah, I had Jarvis film it for me and then maybe later you can see it for yourself._ "

" _You filmed it?_ "

Anna watched as Tony and Pepper walked began to walk offscreen, Tony's hand on Pepper's back as they walked.

" _Of course! What kind of Dad would I be if I didn't film my daughter's first steps?"_

The video suddenly ended and Anna closed the file. It left her with so many mixed feelings. Seeing the kiss and obvious attraction between Tony and her Mom was a little uncomfortable. She had only ever seen her Mom kiss her Dad. It was evident that they were in love and that Tony really loved her. It was still strange.

"I never thought I'd hear that voice again."

Anna looked over her shoulder where Banner was now sitting up and his glasses were back on his face.

"I'm sorry if I woke you."

He shrugged it off and leaned forward on the futon.

"You should have woken me up. And you really should get to bed," Bruce said, standing up to take her spot at the desk. He looked at Anna sitting at the desk and glanced up at the clock. "You were up this whole time?"

"I think I'll just work a little longer on that program," Anna stated, as she began to open it up. "I was just taking a break and I was curious about that one file. I'll get to bed soon."

In fact, Anna simply needed something to distract her. The knowledge of earlier in the evening was still raw and seeing Tony with her Mom made her feel even more awkward.

Bruce nodded, and grabbed the empty coffee mug with the intention to refill his own before coming back to help her.

"Uncle Bruce?"

He paused on the steps and turned upon hearing Anna call him.

"Yeah?"

"You knew Mr. Stark, right?"

Bruce walked back towards her, hearing in her voice that there was more she was wanting to know.

"Tony and I were friends and had a good working relationship," he told her. "Although some of his methods were unorthodox, he meant well."

"You worked together?"

Bruce nodded and chuckled. "On more than one occasion. When he found out that your Mom was pregnant with you, he was so concerned that he called me. Pepper had been injected with something called Extremis a few years prior."

When Anna looked at him with a confused expression, he explained.

"It alters the DNA and although Tony had managed to cause it to go dormant within your Mom, they were worried about how it would affect you. He and I did test after test for a good six months and then continued well after you were born for a few years. We found it a miracle that Pepper carried you to term. Either than your allergies and asthma, you were perfect. In fact, we believed that the allergies were simply your system's way of dealing with the Extremis coding within your own DNA."

Bruce paused, allowing Anna the moment to digest the information he was telling her. He could see her mind turning.

"I guess I should be lucky that those are the only symptoms I have," Anna said, glancing up at Bruce. She had heard about the connection between her 'Uncle Bruce' and the Hulk that evening. It was something that she still couldn't fathom. "I couldn't imagine what you go through."

Bruce crossed his arms and looked down. He nodded. "In a way, we aren't very different. We're both aware of what can trigger our reactions and realize what situations to avoid to best overcome them."

Anna thought of her next question, not entirely sure how to ask it. She was slightly unsure whether it was a sensitive topic. Her voice was soft as she spoke.

"Did you ever consider doing something like Stark had done for my Mom? Maybe somehow cause...him...to become dormant."

Bruce nodded. "I did look into it but all trials that I had done were failures. So, I've learned to live with...him." He smiled when he finished speaking which caused Anna to grin. "The last time the other guy showed up, he was a bit more even tempered than previous years...but just a bit."

"How many years has it been?"

"Eight years this coming September," Bruce replied without having to even think about. "My longest dry spell yet."

He paused and turned to head up the steps with the mugs in hand. "And I intend to make it another eight years."

* * *

Bruce went about refilling the coffee maker, keeping his actions as light and soft as possible as to not wake up the other occupants of the small home. He knew that both Pepper and Happy had gone to bed late as well and Rhody was currently sleeping on the couch in the den. He looked out the kitchen window into the backyard and past the trees where on the horizon, the sun was just beginning to peek through the clouds. The sky promised to be a beautiful day again; a good day to start fresh and new.

Bruce closed his eyes and took a deep breath upon hearing the familiar crackling of the coffee maker beginning to brew. He reached into the fridge and pulled out the milk when he heard the rumbling begin. It startled him and he grabbed ahold of the fridge door. The rattling continued until one of the coffee mugs reached the edge of the counter and fell onto the tile floor; breaking into a dozen pieces.

Not only did the mug fall to the floor, but soon photo frames began to slide off where they sat and crashed onto the floor.

Instinctively Bruce rushed for the nearest doorframe. He had lived long enough in earthquake prone areas to know exactly what to do, but for some reason, it didn't feel like an earthquake to him. The sounds coming from outside that were rattling the house resembled that of explosions. The house groaned and cracked as dust fell from the ceilings.

"What is that?! What's going on!?" Anna shouted as she ran up the stairs. Bruce grabbed her by the arm and pulled her beside him in the doorframe as the house continued to rattle.

A moment later and both Pepper and Happy ran into the room, looking panicked as Rhody rushed in as well.

Happy quickly turned to the front door and opened it and saw the horror being displayed right in their neighbourhood. People ran in the streets as horns blared and cars smouldered. Screams echoed and were overpowered by the loud engines of the alien spacecrafts that flew over them, firing their weapons at anything that moved.

The Chitauri were back.

Happy's eyes widened as he saw something coming towards them.

"Get down!" he exclaimed, just as the explosion hit their front lawn. Grass, stones and dirt flew at the front of the house and shattered the windows, sending shards of glass throughout the room.

"We have to get out of here!" Rhody stated as they all pushed themselves off the ground.

Anna ran over to the open front door where Happy had fallen from the impact of the explosion. Pepper was already at his side as he coughed.

"Dad, you're bleeding," Anna said, concern for more than just the blood she saw evident in her voice.

Happy put his hand on Anna's hand as he sat up.

"I'm fine," he stated a few times over and over. "They hit the yard."

With Bruce's help, Happy got to his feet and they quickly raced down to the basement. Anna watched as Rhody tried his cell phone only to find that there was no service. The house continued to rattle, sending dust raining down on them. For a moment, Anna wondered how safe they could actually be in the basement. Surprisingly, the computer was still on. Anna rushed over to it and pulled the USB drive from the computer and shoved it into her pocket.

"You're not going to hulk out on us, are you?" Rhody asked Bruce nervously from where he stood against the wall of the basement.

The doctor shook his head, keeping his eye on the ceiling. "I'm not planning on it."

"We need to get a plan to get ourselves out of here," Rhody commented loudly. "We can't stay here for too long."

Bruce agreed and quickly acted. He ran over to the basement window and reached up to slid open the glass before pushing out the screen. When it became evident that the doctor was about to climb through the window, Happy quickly made his way over to him.

"The moment they see you, you know they'll kill you," Happy told him.

Bruce grinned as he peered back at Happy. "Oh, they won't kill me. If anything, I'll draw their attention away from you so you can all get out of here and get to safety."

Happy was about to protest but knew that Bruce was right. Bruce looked back at them from where he crouched outside by the window.

"As soon as it's clear, you need to go."

Happy nodded, the last thing he saw was Bruce pocketing his glasses before he stood up and walked from the window. A few seconds later, a thunderous roar that rivaled that of the rumbling that assaulted the house echoed into the basement.

"I'd say that's our cue," Rhody quipped.

* * *

Steve looked out the front windows of the quin-jet overtop of where Clint Barton was piloting the machine. It had been years since he had seen Barton and he had only wished that it had been under better circumstances. Either than a quick hello when he, Natasha and Daniel boarded the quin-jet, they hadn't said a word to each other.

"My God," he breathed, taking in the view of the cityscape of Miami in the far distance. Plums of smoke rose into the atmosphere as the city burned.

"And that is only Miami," Coulson said solemnly as he stood beside Steve. "I'm afraid that every major city in the world is under attack."

Steve looked at Coulson, shock evident on his face.

"What plans does S.H.I.E.L.D have for a situation such as this?"

Coulson shook his head. "We don't have a plan. This situation is so far out of our control. World governments are falling. We're looking at global domination. As for S.H.I.E.L.D, it has only one remaining base that is still secure and operational."

"One?"

Coulson nodded. "But we have to make one quick stop before going there."

It didn't take long for Steve to realize where they were going. He saw Hulk towering on the street as he was being assaulted from every angle from Chitauri. Behind him against the house that he had visited just the night before stood Pepper, Happy, Rhody and Anna. It was evident that Hulk knew of their presence and was using his body to shield them.

"Hang on!" Clint exclaimed as he began opening fire on the Chitauri, taking some heat off of the Hulk.

The quin-jet swerved as it avoided yet another shot from a Chitauri. As another was about to open fire, a sudden thunderclap erupted in the sky as lightening rained down from the heaven above. The Chitauri around them dropped to the ground as Clint smiled.

"Just in time," he said softly as he landed the quin-jet on the street. The rear opened up as Rhody ushered Pepper, Happy and Anna across the lawn. Anna glanced at the man who had appeared out of nowhere before she saw Daniel standing on the edge of the lowered door to the quin-jet, shouting at them to hurry. When they were within reach, he grabbed ahold of Anna's arm and pulled her onto the jet. Before she could even protest, he had strapped her into a harness against the jet wall and sat down beside her. It was then that she finally saw her parents sitting on the jet across from her.

Everything happened so fast. She could feel her stomach lurch as the quin-jet climbed into the air. Anna didn't need to know that they were moving quickly through the air. Her stomach told her enough. Wanting to get the thought of her inside's doing circles and knowing that they were currently flying hundreds of feet in the air, she looked to Daniel sitting calmly beside her.

"Where's Uncle Bruce?"

"He's...he's...uh..."

Anna got it.

"We left him behind?"

"Dr. Banner is unable to come on board when he's the Hulk," Coulson answered for him from where he sat by Barton. "He'll be able to take care of himself."

The quin-jet quickly rose in the atmosphere and Anna knew it. She pinched her eyes shut and held onto the straps that held her securely in her seat. She was white knuckling the straps. It was obvious to everyone that she did not like to fly.

After a few more minutes of flying, Barton spoke up.

"Uh, director?"

Coulson looked up and saw what Barton had been looking at.

The last S.H.I.E.L.D base was under attack. Coulson turned to Thor.

"Do you think you can hold them off for us long enough for us to get inside?"

Thor nodded. "I will certainly try."

Anna watched as Thor jumped out the open rear hatch of the quin-jet. Around them the clouds seemed to cover them. She could hear the rumbling of thunder and the lightning exploding around them. The lights within the quin-jet dimmed as it was obvious that Barton was simply using the jet's instrumentation to bring them in. It wasn't until they landed that she felt someone grab her by the arm. Again, Daniel had her by the arm.

Alarms rang out in the air as they were quickly rushed inside. Dimmed tunnels turned into stark white hallways as they were brought deeper and deeper under the ground. People rushed around them as lights flashed and sirens blared. With all the chaos happening around them, no one seemed to notice the group of people being pushed down the hallway in their pyjamas. It wasn't until they reached a large room filled with monitors and people shouting over each other that they stopped. Coulson stepped forward and began yelling orders to various people.

After a moment, he turned to Daniel.

"Agent Rogers," he stated. "Bring our guests down to the lab and get Anna set up on a computer. I'll be there in a few minutes. The Relativity project just got pushed to being priority."

"Yes sir," Daniel replied before turning to his parents, Anna, Happy, Pepper and Rhody.

He was met with looks of confusion and surprise. Without saying a word, he walked past them asking them to follow him.

Steve walked up quickly beside his son. "So, you're working for S.H.I.E.L.D?"

He was audibly not happy about it. He could hear it in his father's voice. It wasn't asked just as to start a conversation.

"I know you're upset," Daniel began as they continued to walk down the hallway, being followed by the others who were just as shocked.

"Of course, I'm upset," Steve interrupted. "You could have at least told us about this."

"Told you? The man who has S.H.I.E.L.D to thank for his survival and then suddenly abandoned the organization completely."

"We left because of you," Natasha countered, hearing the jibe aimed at Steve. "To keep you safe. We saw what it did to Pepper and Anna. The last thing we wanted was to have you experience what Anna had."

Daniel took a deep breath.

"Well, if all goes well," Daniel began as he quickly pushed open another door. "If this works, it'll change all of that."

He stepped aside as everyone walked in to the large room. Daniel slid past his parents and switched on the computer terminal, instantly bringing the algorithm to life in 3d on a table in front of them.

"That's the program," Anna said, stepping forward.

"It's not done," Daniel said.

Anna rolled her eyes. "No kidding."

Daniel silently invited her up to the 3d model. They watched as she slid numbers and figures around, giving a different sum of numbers. Anna focused so much on the algorithm that she didn't even notice when Coulson and Thor walked into the room.

"I don't mean to rush but how are you doing?" Coulson asked.

Anna looked up, the light from the table illuminating her face.

"Honestly, this is far above my scope that besides knowing that it needs a major source of energy to work, we're screwed," she stated blatantly.

"What kind of energy do you require?" Thor asked, stepping forward. "If this machine can alter time, I would be willing to do what it takes in order to save this planet."

"Something powerful. Like, maybe...I don't know...the sun?"

They knew it was sarcastic but still they couldn't believe that Tony Stark would create something that would need energy that would be unattainable.

"Mjolnir," Thor suddenly said. Everyone turned to him as a smile appeared on the god's face. "It is possible."

The others seemed to get what Thor was saying and even Coulson smirked before he left the room with the promise to return with the two agents who were assigned to follow through with the project.

Anna still had no clue as to what Thor was implying. She turned to Daniel beside her.

"I'm sorry...what is he talking about?"

"Mjolnir," Daniel repeated. "His hammer."

"It is not just a hammer," Thor exclaimed, obviously offended. "Mjolnir is one of the most powerful things in all the realms. Only the most worthy has the honour of wielding it's power."

"Forget that I asked," Anna mumbled as Thor walked over to her.

"You are the child of Stark, are you not?"

Anna looked up and over at where Pepper and Happy stood together by the wall. Finally, she shrugged. "That's right."

"I have once conveyed this to your Mother many years ago following the death of your father," Thor began as he stood in front of her. "You were too young when I saw you then for you to comprehend. But I wish to express it now."

He paused before looking into Anna's eyes.

"On behalf of all of Asgard and the realms that are within our borders, I wish to extend my deepest apologies for the errors of my brother, Loki, against your father," Thor stated, dipping his head slightly.

A moment of silence followed and Anna wasn't certain what she was to say. Finally, she quickly replied with a soft, apology accepted. It seemed to satisfy Thor enough that he smiled. The smile fell when the lights began to flicker and the sound of distant rumbling was heard in the large room.

"What was that?" Pepper asked as Daniel made his way over to a monitor.

Steve walked up beside him, recognizing the codes that were being displayed in front of them.

"This can't be right," Daniel said softly, tapping the controls.

"Level's 3 and above are gone?" Steve asked.

As hard as it was to believe, when Coulson ran into the room with a gun under his arm, they knew it to be true.

"Change of plan," Coulson gasped.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N - Wow! Hundreds of views but only a couple reviews... Now, readers, I'd really like to know what you're thinking here... I'm writing this for you as much as I am for myself. And I'm tossing this chapter out in hopes that I'll get a bite or two...or ten... Please? I hate to beg...

* * *

Anna shook her head over and over even as she heard Coulson's suggestion. Pepper and Happy didn't even have to try to discourage Anna from the crazy idea that Coulson had presented to her. Anna looked over at Daniel as he prepared for the mission that was suddenly thrust upon him. It appeared that a similar discussion was going on within his own small family unit.

"Daniel, this isn't your fight," Steve argued. "Besides we don't even know if this thing works let alone if the portal will even open in the right place in history."

"This is my fight," Daniel stated. "I'm not letting Anna go alone."

"From what I've heard, Anna isn't too keen about this," Natasha told him. "She may not even be going."

"Then I'm going on my own. The original agents assigned to this mission are dead and it's only a matter of time before the Chitauri get down to this level. Either way I look at it, there isn't another option."

"We can fight back," Natasha stated.

Daniel sighed. "Mom, you've seen what they can do. As much as I'd like to believe that humanity has a chance..." he paused and shook his head. "It's over."

As though the Chitauri heard Daniel's words, another explosion rocked the large room. This time, it was louder and harder than any previous ones. The lights flickered and dust dropped from the high ceiling.

"We have to hurry!" Coulson exclaimed as he ran over to the machine, no larger than a car engine.

Once again, Anna shook her head. This time, Pepper grabbed her by the shoulders with tears in her eyes.

"Maybe this is what you should be doing," she said. "I need you to survive and staying here, I know that you won't."

"Your Mom is right," Happy said. "As hard as it is for me to say it, you should do it. Your Dad put this project together and if there is anyone who could make this work, it would be him."

"But I can't do this," Anna exclaimed. "I'm not a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. I'm not qualified."

"But you do know technology better than anyone here," Coulson stated, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out another USB drive. "That, and the fact that you'd be less noticeable in the time frame that you'd be going to. It's important that no one knows who you are. Your job is to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D and upload this to their server."

Daniel took it from Coulson. "What is it?"

"It's information that S.H.I.E.L.D needs in order to modify their scanners to better identify anomalies in space. A first warning system of sorts. It is quite possible that it would prevent this attack and any others from ever happening again. Unfortunately, we discovered it too late. In the time that I'm sending you to, S.H.I.E.L.D is already monitoring radiation spikes since the attack on New York City, so it is possible that any residual radiation from the portal opening may put you on their radar. Try to blend in as much as possible."

Coulson paused as another explosion rocked the room.

"And how are we supposed to get back?" Anna asked softly.

"That's something we never thought through," Coulson stated, solemnly. "If you change history in the past, theoretically, you're also changing the future. If you do return, chances are you may return to a time when you don't even exist. Time travel is a tricky thing. It's a dangerous and new territory for us."

"But theoretically, it has to be better than living in a world that has been dominated by the Chitauri," Happy stated from where he stood beside Anna with Pepper holding his hand tightly.

Another moment passed and Coulson turned on the machine. It hummed to life, and brightened the room as it began to work. A sudden beam of light exploded across the room towards the wall and there it remained, unchanged. Coulson turned to Anna who merely shrugged.

"I could really use your input," Coulson called out over the machine. After a moment hesitation, Anna walked over to him and took a look at the calculations she had made earlier. A smile came to her face as she instantly erased an entire code. Coulson had no clue what she had done but it was enough to increase the power of the machine.

"It's working," Coulson stated. He turned to Thor. "We could use a little more power now."

Thor simply nodded as he raised the hammer over his head.

"Brace yourselves!" he exclaimed as lightning exploded from the hammer. He directed it towards the machine.

Anna had to cover her eyes as the light was so bright. It wasn't until she heard her name being called that she finally reopened them. The room was coloured in a brilliant light, so bright that it was though the sun was shining in the room with them.

"It's time!" Coulson called from where he stood beside Daniel and his parents.

Anna turned back to Pepper and Happy beside her. Pepper smiled, seeming to understand exactly what Anna was thinking.

"We'll be fine," Pepper told her with tears in her eyes as she put her hands on Anna's face. "Go save the world."

Anna chuckled at the corny statement. She turned to Happy who simply pulled her in for a hug and kissed her head as he held her close.

"Take care of her for me," Happy said, as he looked past Anna. It was then that she noticed that Daniel was beside her. He held out his hand towards her and instead she simply walked past him.

"Let's get this done, Rogers," she stated, as they walked towards the beam of light. She stopped just as they approached it and put out her hand, allowing her fingers to just touch it. Anna gasped as she felt a strong tug.

She looked back at where Thor was holding the hammer, allowing the portal to remain open. Hearing another explosion above them was enough to kick her in the butt and get not only Anna moving but Daniel as well. He grabbed ahold of her wrist and pushed her in with himself.

* * *

His lungs burned.

They ached for a breath that he knew that he was holding. He had to hold it and Daniel didn't know why until he felt the cool wetness surrounding him. Instinct took over and he found himself moving towards the light until he broke the surface.

Daniel gasped, taking in deep breaths of air while he leaned back in the water, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face as he floated in the ocean.

As though he suddenly remembered what had just happened, he looked around himself frantically. In one direction was open ocean and the beach was only one hundred yards in the opposite direction. Daniel panicked as he looked alone the coastline, hoping to see that familiar head.

"Anna!?" he exclaimed.

A sudden sound of sputtering and coughing to his left, caught his attention. It was then that he saw her, gasping just as he had only moments ago. Daniel began to swim towards her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine!" she exclaimed. "Considering what we just went through, I'm fine."

It was then that she finally looked around them. For a moment she thought that they were in the middle of the ocean until she turned back around and saw the beach. As Daniel began to swim for the land, she followed.

"Either than the obvious, where do you think we are?"

"My guess? Santa Monica," Daniel stated.

"You sound awfully sure of yourself."

"It helps when the pier is about a half mile down the beach," he said, glancing past her. Anna turned in the water and saw the iconic Santa Monica pier in the water. She had gone there a handful of times while she was in school in California. It looked the same as it had been then. For a moment, she wondered if they really did get as far into the past as they were intending.

After a second, she began swimming again and together they silently made the rest of the trip to shore.

Once they had made their way out of the water, Anna sat down in the sand and proceeded to pull off her water-soaked shoes. Daniel stood beside her, and pulled his t-shirt over his head and squeezed out the water from it.

"I suggest we walk back towards the pier and verify our time in history and then possibly get a cab," he said, putting his wet shirt over his shoulder before reaching into his pockets. "I have some change that we can use to pay our way to get to Stark Industries..."

Anna looked up at him incredulously. "Was I the only one who just went on the time travel trip from hell? The lives we once had are over. Over Daniel! We don't exist here and according to Coulson, we're stuck. Our parents are most likely fighting for their lives or they are already dead in our time. And here you are, acting as though nothing even happened!"

Daniel ran his hand over his face, hearing her frustration as his own boiled up.

"No, I know exactly what just happened and what we left behind. I'm not blind to that matter, Anna. But I am also aware of our current mission and that it has to be completed or everything we just went through was in vain."

Anna stood up and squeezed the water out from her tank top as best as she could. "It's your mission! It was never mine. I was forced to come on this god-forsaken trip because I'm related to Tony Stark and somehow everyone thinks that I will be able to help. Either way you look at it, our future is gone."

"My mission never changed," Daniel told her, as he walked up to her.

"Which is?"

Anna put her hands on her hips and Daniel swallowed. He gestured towards her.

"It's you."

"Me?"

"I was assigned years ago to protect you," Daniel explained. "I just never knew why until yesterday. Maybe it was all for this moment in time."

Anna paused and took a step back, as she ran her hand through her wet hair, feeling the tangles but pushed them aside.

"You're telling me that you've been watching me all these years, following me?"

Daniel nodded. He knew that he wasn't supposed to be telling her all this, but he figured that their current situation, it didn't matter that it was a secret anymore. She knew that he was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. The least he could do is tell her that she was his original assignment. They were in this situation together and would most likely have to work together to get it done.

He could see Anna process what he was telling her and imagined that she was now doubting everything he had ever told her.

"When I was at Caltech and I thought you were in central America, you were not there."

Daniel nodded knowingly.

"I was living down the street from you," he told her. "I followed you to school each morning and waited by the bus stop for you to pass by before following you home. On occasion, I'd sit in some of your larger classes and try to keep myself awake."

Anna shook her head. "Why don't I remember seeing you?"

Daniel smirked. "You were usually in your own world; reading or listening to something on your iPod. That and the fact that you assumed me to be in central America. I just did my job which was to ensure that you were always safe."

She paused as a memory came to mind. Her eyes widened and she pointed at him as she took a step back.

"Oh no, you didn't!" she suddenly exclaimed. In an instant, she turned and picked up her shoes before storming away from him. Anna could hear him running up behind her, calling her name. "I can't believe you! You did it, didn't you!?"

"Did what?!"

Anna stopped and turned, as Daniel nearly bumped into her, his over 6 foot tall stature looking down at all of 5 foot 6 inches of anger.

Happy had been right when it came to red heads. Athough Anna had brown hair, she did have natural red highlights and Daniel had realized in the past that it didn't matter that she wasn't a full ginger. When they were angry, they were angry.

"Tell me that you didn't threaten Malcolm Keets three years ago," Anna stated as calmly as she could, hoping that he would defend himself.

When Daniel didn't respond, she quickly turned back around and kept walking. "You little...! He wouldn't even look at me, not even talk to me. One day he was asking me out and the next day, he was acting like I carried the frickin' plague!"

"He was bad news," Daniel stated as he walked up beside her.

"According to you."

"According to his background check," Daniel corrected.

Anna wasn't even going to ask. She was appalled already to know that Daniel had been watching her all these years that she wasn't even surprised to find that he would do a background check on every person she met.

"And I suppose you put a sub-dermal GPS tracker on me," she stated, intending to make it sound incredulous. When Daniel merely shrugged as he walked beside her, she turned to look at him.

"Seriously?" she exclaimed, running her hands over her arms up to her neck. "Where the hell is it?"

Daniel laughed for the first time since they arrived and it felt good to relax a bit. He shook his head.

"No, there isn't a sub dermal tracker."

He decided he'd keep the secret of the tracker actually being within her medical bracelet to himself.

"Well, at least that's a bit of good news," Anna said, squaring her shoulders as they walked along the beach.

As they neared the pier, there were more and more people about. They passed a few sunbathers, and the odd family with children playing in the sand. Anna suddenly stopped walking and bent over causing Daniel to pause.

"What are you doing?" he asked, watching as she rolled up her still wet pyjama pants up her legs.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to look a bit more like I fit in," she told him as she stood up straight again. She dropped her shoes to the sand and slipped her feet into them before she raked her hands through her hair, trying to make it look a bit less frazzled. "You, on the other hand appear like you live at the beach. You've got that genetic muscle beach thing happening and people are starting to stare. Could you tone it down? Just a bit?"

Anna laughed aloud and continued down the beach when Daniel realized that he was catching the eye of more than a few women as he walked by. Anna couldn't believe that Daniel was that oblivious to it. She began to wonder why he thought the Mom's and older sisters of the kids he was teaching swimming lessons to would always stick around during the classes. He had certainly caught Anna's eye more than once when she was younger. Now she was almost impervious to him...almost.

When they made it to the pier and were about to walk up the steps, Daniel looked towards the parking lot. A dozen black cars and SUV's had pulled into the lot. It wouldn't have looked unusual except for the occupants who stepped out of them. Daniel could tell they were agents from the moment that he saw them. He ran up the steps and caught up with Anna on the pier.

He came up close beside her and leaned in.

"We've been spotted," he said softly.

"What? By whom?"

She was about to turn to look behind them when Daniel grabbed her arm and pulled her alongside a vendor's tent, pretending to look at some clothing that was for sale. He pulled his shirt back over his head and strained to get his arms through the wet arm holes.

"S.H.I.E.L.D is here," he told her. "Remember what Coulson said about S.H.I.E.L.D monitoring radiation. They must have triangulated the position to the beach."

The sound of a helicopter flying overhead towards the beach caught their attention and they glanced out of the tent. Daniel knew it to be S.H.I.E.L.D as well.

"We're no where near where we arrived so theoretically, we should be fine," Daniel told her.

"Theoretically, according to you. Except that some radiation isotopes can possibly be carried, especially if exposed to large quantities, which we undoubtedly were. They're probably carrying some sort of geiger counter to measure."

Daniel trusted Anna's knowledge and listened to her as he casually looked out of the tent to see the agents walking up onto the pier and towards them, effectively blocking their path back off. Daniel stood beside the edge of the pier and pulled Anna towards him.

"Just act normal," he said softly, just as he kissed her.

He felt her resist for a moment until she seemed to understand what he was doing. It was only for a fleeting few seconds but it was enough and the S.H.I.E.L.D agents had moved past them, searching the crowd for any apparent unusual disturbance. It was obvious that they were not carrying any device to detect radiation but were mainly searching the premises.

Anna glanced at them for a moment before Daniel casually swung his hand around Anna's shoulders as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Together, they made their way back down the pier in the direction they had originally came.

"That was the furthest from normal," Anna commented.

Daniel shrugged. "I improvised. It's widely known that people are uncomfortable with public displays of affection."

"Who told you that?"

A smile errupted on Daniels face. "It's something my Mom once told my Dad before she kissed him for the first time. They were undercover at the time but it was still the first time."

The smile disappeared when Daniel noticed that the group of S.H.I.E.L.D agents appeared ahead of them, walking towards them. Quickly, they shifted directions and made their way between vendors and across an open area of the pier.

"They're on both sides of us," Daniel said.

"Do you think they're on to us?"

"Possibly."

"What's the plan?"

"Run."

And Anna did just that. She could feel Daniel's hand on her back, urging her to move faster and turn at certain places. Behind them, they could hear shouts and commotion. Daniel didn't need to look back to know that they were being chased. That helicopter was once again right above them. It was only a matter of time before they were trapped, and he knew it. His mission was already over before it even had a chance to begin.

They rounded a corner and darted between buildings until Daniel quickly stopped when he saw a man, one whom he should recognize anywhere but to see him now, it was surreal.

Anna nearly bumped into Daniel until she realized who was in front of them, blocking their path.

Captain America


	8. Chapter 8

A/N - My apologies for the extended break from this story. I've had some other things to wrap up but now we're underway again.

* * *

"Holy shit!" Daniel mumbled astonishly, seeing a younger version of his father, Captain America standing in front of them.

"Oh, my, God," Anna gasped, at the moment she truly did believe that they had travelled back in time.

Daniel could not recall the last time that they had seen his father dressed like that. He had seen photo's but never the real thing. But it was surely him.

Captain America's eyes drifted from Daniel to Anna who stood slightly behind him. When the call had come in that a high level of radiation was detected near the Santa Monica Pier, he was expecting aliens. From what he could tell, they appeared as human as the next person. They could be just a couple of kids playing with some left over djtari technology left over from the New York City attack. But he had come to realize that after his experience with Loki, that it was possible that they weren't human. Still, they hadn't given him a reason to doubt that.

No one said another word until Captain America took a step forward.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said pleasantly, noticing that the pair looked a bit apprehensive. Except what he interpreted as apprehension, was simply shock. He swung his shield onto his back and smiled at them. "We just need you to tell us where the alien weapon is."

The voice was certainly Steve Rogers.

"Alien weapon?" Anna asked.

Daniel shook his head and then finally he spoke.

"I'm sorry," he told him with the utmost respect. "But if you could only understand. You need to let us go. It's important."

The smile disappeared on the Cap's face as he shook his head.

"I can't do that. If you could just answer some questions..."

Steve was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a muffled gun shot. First one, and then another less than a second later. He didn't even get the chance to react when the pair fell unconscious to the planked deck right in front of him. His eyes fell on Natasha who stood a few meters behind where Daniel and Anna had come to stop. She still held onto the rifle in her arms and had a smug expression on her face.

"What?" she asked, smirking.

"You didn't have to do that," Steve told her as he walked up to Daniel and Anna's unconscious forms on the ground. "We could have handled this without pulling out the tranquilizers."

"You were taking too long," she said, walking up to him and looking down at the two she had shot. She reached down and pulled the darts from the back of their necks. Natasha turned Daniel over onto his back and pulled out a cell phone and snapped a picture of him before doing the same with Anna. "Besides, this one is giving off a faint Extremis heat signature. I didn't think you'd want to become barbecue."

"Extremis, huh? We should call Stark in on this. He knows more about it than anyone."

Natasha nodded, and sent the photos back to S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I don't think they have been in contact with any alien weapons," Steve commented as he crouched down beside Natasha as she quickly scanned Anna and Daniel once again.

"Why do you say that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. "They seemed genuinely confused when I asked about a weapon."

Natasha smirked. "You're out of touch with kids these days, Rogers."

The helicopter that had been circling hovered above them as three agents descended on ropes onto the deck.

"Captain, S.H.I.E.L.D is evacuating the area," one of the agents told him. "We've already emitted the electrical disruptor over the pier and beach."

"There are going to be a lot of ticked off tourists when they realize that all their photo's are destroyed," Steve commented.

"Either that or this event will be all over the news," the agent told him.

The helicopter lowered a basket and Steve lifted Anna into it before doing the same with Daniel. Finally, the agents and both he and Natasha made their way up into the helicopter. When they were finally enroute and heading away from the pier, Natasha turned to Steve.

"S.H.I.E.L.D has started on the facial recognition on our pair here and so far nothing is coming up," she said, working at the computer embedded into the wall of the large helicopter.

"They may not be in the database," Steve said, sitting beside her.

Natasha shook her head. "It's taking images from around the world. If these two have shown their faces somewhere, anywhere, we would know. There is no governmental record of either of them. No drivers licences...not even a school ID card with a picture. Somehow they have evaded the worlds cameras or they just popped out of nowhere."

"You're leaning more onto the alien theory now, aren't you?"

"It's hard not too far fetched to consider now. Combined with the radiation they have been exposed to, it's becoming more of a possibility."

"We'll need to get blood tests done," Steve told her. "See if we can cross examine them with specimen's that Thor had given us."

"Excuse me, ma'am," an agent sitting in the front seat of the helicopter called out. "Just getting reports from HQ. Thor has suddenly arrived and was inquiring about a radiation spike within our atmosphere."

Steve caught Natasha's gaze.

"He was able to detect it from his planet?" she asked aloud.

"Tell HQ that we're on our way back and to let Thor know that we have the reason for the spike with us. Get S.H.I.E.L.D medical prepared for two patients and contact Stark. Let him know that there may be some aliens now using Extremis technology. He may be able to offer some insight into how they managed to get ahold of it and he may be able to stabilize it since he did that with Pepper."

"Yes, sir," the agent replied.

"Hopefully we can get some answers," Steve said softer, as he looked down at the man and woman laying unconscious in front of him.

It was then that his eye caught the black bracelet around Anna's wrist. He reached over and gently picked up her limp hand to get a closer look. He turned the bracelet within his hand, noticing the intriquit detail within the dark, hard metal. Two indentations caught his eye and he gently touched them. Instantly, an embedded light glowed from around the bracelet illiuminating letters that couldn't be seen before.

"Hey, Nat," Steve said, getting the woman's attention. "Take a look at this."

Natasha turned and leaned over Anna to see what Steve was looking at.

"It looks like some sort of medic-alert bracelet," he said, reading it aloud. "Asthma, allergies to dairy, shellfish, penicilin and strawberries."

Natasha looked closer. "Stark medical?"

Steve looked up at Natasha. "Care to retract your alien theory?"

* * *

"That's impossible," Tony said, interrupting Steve as he was in the middle of speaking. Maria Hill stood beside Captain America as he gave the rest of them an overview of what had occurred and he had discovered.

Steve turned from where he stood beside a holographic image of the bracelet showing the small Stark Medical logo beneath the list of allergies from Anna's medical bracelet. Tony sat at the table behind him along with Natasha, Thor, and Clint.

"It has to be some sort of knockoff with the Stark logo emblazed on it. I know all of Stark Medical's products and although that one is engenious, it is not mine."

Steve sighed and turned back to the image.

"Regardless, we know now that they are not alien," Steve said. "Blood tests are underway since we weren't able to identify them through facial recognition."

"So, is this just a false alarm?" Clint spoke up. "I thought we were dealing with radiation on a large scale that woudl indicate another invasion."

"You would think so," Steve replied.

"My planet detected the raditation coming from your world," Thor commented. "Think of it as throwing a stone int a pool; the ripples get larger over time. It will get the attention of other worlds if we do not discover the source soon, like the jtari."

"But Loki is dead. The Jtari army was destroyed," Natasha stated.

"That wouldn't stop them. They want their revenge and they'll seek us out thinking that Earth is weilding a high source of power. We must find out what these two humans were doing and how they came into contact with radiation of t hat magnitude."

"It would also be interesting to know why the girl has an Extremis signature," Agent Hill said, turning to look at Tony. Everyone else turned to look at the man as well.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I didn't want to be invited to this party. I was rather enjoying the private life away froma ll things strange and unusual."

"You know more about Extremis than anyone. We need your helpw tih this stark," Steve told him.

"Of course you do. But, it would help if we could find Banner and get him here as well."

"He's on his way. He should be here within the hour," Steve commented off-handedly causing everyone to stare at him blankly.

"What? Where has he been hiding out?"

Steve shrugged and glanced at Maria Hill before speaking. "It's above my clearance level. All I know is that S.H.I.E.L.D has been keeping an eye on him once they had tracked him down to his current position."

"I guess no one can truly get lost in this world while S.H.I.E.L.D is around," Stark stated.

* * *

It felt strange to be surrounded once again by S.H.I.E.L.D agents. Dr. Banner had never visited the newly built S.H.I.E.L.D compound. He hadn't seen anyone from the agency, Thor or Tony Stark since he went AWOL. Bruce was enjoying the solitude but he also knew that it was only a matter of time before someone tracked him down. Actually, he was rather surprised to find that it wasn't Stark who first sought him.

Bruce followed the agent leading him down the hallway until they paused at a doorway. With a punch at the keypad, the agent unlocked the door and pushed it aside, allowing Dr. Banner into the room.

Tony Stark stood up from where he sat at a desk across the room. Upon seeing Dr. Banner walking through the door, Tony stood up and extended his hand towards the other man. Banner shook it.

"It's good to see you Dr. Banner," Stark told him, he glanced at his apparel. It was then that Bruce realized it had been a while since he had shaved last. Being on his own, he tended to neglect such tasks. Stark certainly didn't hesitate to tease him.

"I see you're fully embrassing that Castaway look," Tony quipped, gesturing to his own face. "Don't tell me you have a soccer ball with your handprint in your bag."

"I'm more of a basketball guy, actually," Bruce replied back with a smirk.

He glanced at the table holding a holographic projection behind Tony before walking with the man towards it. He was eager to help S.H.I.E.L.D with their current predicament involving their two guests and get back to being on his own.

"This is the DNA in question?"

Tony nodded as Bruce put on his glasses to take a look at Stark's findings. "One of the two. This DNA has markers for the Extremis virus but it's not active within the genes. It's completely embedded in the DNA as though it has always been there and always been dormant."

"That doesn't make sense," Bruce said, reaching towards the holographic representation on the table to turn the DNA strand in front of him. "When you and I caused Pepper's Extremis to become dormant, it still gave a good representation of the virus within her genes. It was a separate part."

Tony nodded, crossing his arms as he watched while Dr. Banner split the DNA strand down to the gene markers.

"The only conclusion I can come up with is that this DNA was never embedded with the Extremis virus. It was created from someone who was infected with it."

Dr. Banner turned to look at Stark. "If that's true, then the only way that can occur is if she was conceived from someone who already had Extremis."

"One of her parents must have carried the virus at one point," Stark concluded.

"But that wouldn't make much sense," Bruce said. "I was briefed on the way in and I was told that this woman that S.H.I.E.L.D is holding hostage is at least twenty years old."

"Yeah, and Advance Ideas Mechanics began the research in the late 1990's. It would be impossible even if she was related to one of their very first test subjects."

"It doesn't make any sense," Bruce said softly, shaking his head. He paused for a moment and looked at Stark. "Has S.H.I.E.L.D thought of...I don't know...like, questioning them?"

Stark shrugged. "You'd think so. But I haven't left this room for a few hours. If it wasn't for my stomach, I wouldn't know it was close to lunch. I'm getting something to eat. Are you hungry?"

Bruce shook his head. "You go ahead. I'll get caught up on what you've been working on."

"I'll be back."

Stark left the room, leaving Dr. Banner alone with the image in front of him. He leaned forward and turned the DNA strand around once again.

"S.H.I.E.L.D should have a record of all known Extremis patients, right?" he asked himself, aloud. "It's a long shot but maybe I can match up a DNA sequence somewhere."

He sat down at the table and began.

* * *

Daniel opened his eyes. The bright lights above him caused him to squint. A low hum echoed in the air but either than that, it was absolutely silent.

It took him a good few seconds to realize what had happened and what he last remembered. He quickly sat up on the cot and looked around frantically. He was alone.

Daniel stood up and looked towards the obvious two-way mirror on the wall. For all he knew, he was being watched. Knowing S.H.I.E.L.D, he probably was being observed every second, especially now that he had woken up. If there was no one behind the mirror, chances are there was a camera.

He walked up to the mirror and put his hands on his hip.

"Where is the woman I came with?" he stated.

No answer.

"Come on! Nothing?"

With a sigh, he turned and saw the security camera in the upper corner of the room. Towards the middle, there was a small table with two chairs on either side of it.

Daniel ran his hands over his face before a thought suddenly came to him. He reached down and felt his pockets for the USB card, only to find that his pockets were emptied. That was no surprise to him. It was then that he heard the lock on the door click before it was pushed open. Two armed S.H.I.E.L.D agents walked in before a woman in a one-piece uniform and carrying a tablet stepped through the door.

He didn't recognize her as a current S.H.I.E.L.D agent that he had been trained with. That didn't surprise him though. In his time, this woman would've been in her mid-fifties while he was in training. If anything, she would've been reassigned a desk job by then if she was a member of S.H.I.E.L.D in their time at all.

"You can take a seat," she told Daniel.

"I think I'd rather stand."

The woman pursed her lips. "Suit yourself."

She proceeded to sit down in the chair and crossed her legs before staring up at Daniel. The two agents that had accompanied her into the room stepped off to the side and stood along the wall, keeping their eyes on Daniel.

"My name is Agent Maria Hill," she told him, holding the tablet on her lap. "I just want you to answer a few questions. First off, what is your name?"

"I wont be answering anything until you can tell me what happened to my colleague," he told her smugly. "Where is she?"

Maria nodded.

"She's fine. She's in another area of the facility."

"Why?"

"For our safety and protection."

"Protection from what? She's not dangerous!"

"I'm not certain if you're aware but she had a gene called Extremis," Maria told him. "Under certain circumstances, it's possible that she can become a hazard to my people and to this facility. This is merely a precaution."

"I'm not answering anything until I know she's fine," Daniel stated harshly.

With a sigh, Hill looked down at the tablet. Daniel watched as she tapped a few commands before turning it on the table and pushing it towards him.

"As I said, she's perfectly fine."

What Daniel saw made him feel unnerved.

Anna sat on a bench with her ankles and wrists shackled in front of her, her hands encased within a cylinder that she held between them.

Agent Hill could clearly see that the live feed video of where Anna was being held caused him to become angry. She could see his jaw clench as did the two men at the wall. They both took a step forward as Daniel glared at Maria.

"We haven't done anything wrong and she isn't dangerous," Daniel snapped. "Confining her like that is barbaric."

"We will decide that. In the meantime, it would be helpful if you can answer my questions. Like, why there seems to be a high level of radioactive concentration emitting from the two of you."

Daniel scoffed and ran his hand through his hair. If this was the S.H.I.E.L.D. his parents turned their backs on nearly two decades ago, he could certainly see why. He had no idea how he was going to get themselves out of this mess. According to the plan, they were never supposed to come into contact with S.H.I.E.L.D or anyone from this time.

"Fine then," Maria said, seeing the defiance within the man standing in front of her. She pulled out the USB stick that had been pulled from Daniel's pocket and placed it on the table. "Let me know the encryption code to get into the files on this stick."

"I don't have it," Daniel told her, crossing his arms.

Agent Hill picked up the USB stick. "You see, my computer scientists have discovered something unique about this thing. The encryption software is so far advanced that they are unable to crack it. Why is that?"

Daniel shrugged innocently. "I have no idea. Maybe it's because you're not authorized to open it."

"Let me tell you what I think," Maria began. "You and your girlfriend here, came into contact with some alien tech. The two of you analyzed it, pulled it apart, and even used some of the software and put it onto this drive."

"That's...that's pretty impressive," Daniel stated. "I would never have come up with that one."

"Another thing that has my mind boggled is this," she said, pulling out a bracelet. Daniel recognized it immidiately. "It was on your girlfriends wrist. It's a medic-alert bracelet, am I right?"

Daniel nodded.

"What intrigued us is the technology within it," Maria said, lifting it up and pressing the two buttons on either side, illuminating it. "Not only does it state her long list of allergies and medical issues, but it has a small insignia for Stark Medical. Within this seemingly simple bracelet, there is a tracking system embedded within it. Now, oddly enough, this technology doesn't exist within the inventory for Stark Medical. Tony Stark confirmed it himself."

Daniel shrugged. "Chinese knock-off. Companies copy everything these days."

Maria sighed and paused for a second before continuing. "You know, you never answered my first question. What is your name?"

"I can't answer that."

"Why not?"

"I was given direct orders," he told her.

"Orders from whom?"

Daniel weighed his options. If he was going to be able to complete the mission, he'd have to say something eventually. He decided to pull out his Ace.

"The same man who is the only one capable, besides my friend and I to open the encryption on that drive. Phil Coulson."

He watched emotions flash across Maria Hill's face.

"Agent Coulson is dead," she said, her voice softer.

A small smile appeared on Daniel's face.

"Are you going to tell me that Fury is dead too?"

Again, she attempted to hide any internal thoughts from flitting across her face. It was obvious that she heard his sarcasm within the comment.

"I'll only answer questions from Director Coulson."


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N - Sorry for the delay. I was wanting to get this out last week, but we had some sad events happen here. I realize some of you may no understand this type of heart ache but it is a pain still the same. We had to put our almost 8 year old puppy down. :( She had suffered from a slipped disc in her back after chasing a ball. Her right hind leg instantly gave out on her and she couldn't walk on it...it dragged under her. We took her to the vet on Tuesday and she was given a steroid/pain med combo in hopes that the swelling would go down and she would regain feeling. She then lost the ability to walk with both her hind legs. She did have some feeling in her legs when they did a pinch test but not enough to walk. That gave us hope but at the same time, we knew that she was experiencing a lot of pain due to the pinched nerves. After a lot of consideration as to what was best for her, we came up with the painful conclusion that it would be best to not allow her to suffer. It was so hard to do it considering she was otherwise healthy...but she had stopped eating and drinking in the few days after her accident. We had to carry her everywhere and force her to stay in one place, which was hard enough. We had the option of surgery for her back, but it would cost us up to $6000! We had to remind ourselves that she is still just a dog. It was so hard to see her struggle to move around. As much as we wanted to keep her in our lives, we knew it would be selfish of us to do so. So...with tears in my eyes, I dedicate this chapter to her. My little Casey._

* * *

Maria walked out of the room, and caught Natasha's eye in the hallway. She had heard the entire interrogation. Natasha watched it, looking for any obvious patterns in the young man's stance, his expressions and body language. She had to admit that he remained quite neutral. It was obvious that he cared for the woman down in quarantine and that he reacted just slightly when Maria mentioned Tony Stark. As much as she wondered what that meant, she was more concerned about what their next plan of action was. Natasha couldn't believe that the young man asked for Phil Coulson by name. Just the mention of Coulson brought that painful memory of his death back to her.

"What are we going to do now?"

Agent Hill walked up to Natasha soberly. "We're going to get Coulson."

Natasha scoffed at the blatant humour that she assumed Maria was attempting. It wasn't funny to her at all.

"I'm serious," Maria told her.

"You're serious?" Natasha had to ask. "That's a pretty horrible joke, if you ask me."

"It's no joke," Maria said, her face full of seriousness and attempt keep the information quiet. "He's alive."

Romanov didn't ask anymore questions, nor did she say much after that. She simply followed Agent Hill, trying to make sense of what the agent had told her. It wasn't until she was standing behind her as Agent Hill sat at her desk and turned on her laptop to a smiling image of Agent Phil Coulson, that she felt herself stop breathing.

"I have an update for you sir," Agent Hill began.

 _"I was hoping that you would_ ," he replied, glancing up at Natasha and frowning when he did so. It was clear that he was surprised to see her face yet he let out a smile for her. " _It's good to see you again, Agent Romanov."_

Natasha didn't say anything. She was still trying to wrap her mind around what she knew and believed were true.

He looked back at Agent Hill. _"I wasn't aware that Agent Romanov had clearance to certain knowledge within S.H.I.E.L.D."_

"No, sir," Maria said. "She does not. But with the current events, I thought it prudent to enlighten her."

 _"Events? What events?_ "

"It turns out that our guests have knowledge that you are alive and well," Maria told him.

" _Are they Hydra_?"

"Not that I'm aware of," she told him. "We have them under tight security. We need you to come down here."

" _Why_?"

"They had a USB drive on them with encrypted files that we have been unable to open. I've been told that besides them, you are the only one capable of opening the file. Also, the young man will only speak to you. He wont tell us his name or anything."

" _Finger prints_?"

She shook her head. "Not in the system."

" _DNA_?"

"Nothing either. Facial recognition is coming up empty as well."

Coulson looked down for a brief second before glancing back up at the screen. He had worked hard over the past few years to keep his past life separate from his present life. Going back and facing people whom he hadn't seen since before his accident would bring back too many memories. But he knew that this was a big deal and had no choice.

" _Send me those encrypted files. I'll tie up loose ends here and be there within the hour."_

"See you soon, sir."

 _"See you soon Agent Hill._ " Coulson paused for a moment before glancing up at Natasha. " _You too Romanov."_

The screen turned blank and Natasha seemed to let out a breath that she was holding for the entire time. It seemed so surreal.

"Sir?"

Hill turned in her chair and winced. "Yeah, that's a long story."

* * *

3 years, 1 month and 13 days.

Coulson had a running calendar in his head of how long he had lived this second existence. He assumed that one day he'd reveal that he never did die that fateful day by Loki's hand. He just never assumed it would be because he would be forced to.

As he walked down the corridor with Agent Hill at his side and Romanov walking a few steps behind him, the full fledge of his existence within the S.H.I.E.L.D. base was being known. A few agents were aware of his miraculous resurrection but as he walked down the hallway, it was evident on the faces of those who didn't know. Some agents would stop along the hallway and stand at attention as he passed, while others stood in awe and he could practically hear their internal conversation about what they were seeing in front of him. He knew the feeling. It took months for him to look at his reflection in the mirror and not see a ghost of himself.

But this was important.

After gaining access to those encrypted files that he found so shocking that S.H.I.E.L.D itself couldn't open, he was risking it all. The technology that brought him to life rivaled that that brought the two guests to their time. It was just as impossible.

As he rounded the corner to head towards the interrogation rooms, he was met with three faces whom he had only seen on recordings and photos over the past few years. Coulson was aware that in the time that he made his way to the S.H.I.E.L.D base, that Agent Hill had informed the Avengers that they were getting a guest and to keep an open mind.

He was surprised to find that it was only, Clint, Thor and Captain America who met him. He was expecting Mr. Stark in the very least or even perhaps Dr. Banner, although he wasn't as familiar with the man.

"It's good to see you again...Director Coulson, is it?" Steve said with a cautious smile and extended his hand.

Phil couldn't help but smile as he shook the man's hand.

"It's good to be back," Coulson replied with a nod before looking to both Thor and Clint.

Although he never voiced it, Maria Hill seemed to know Coulson's unspoken question.

"Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark are working in the lab right now," she told him, before directing him to the room where Daniel sat silently. Coulson paused and looked at Daniel through the glass as the young man paced with his arms crossed in front of him before turning to Agent Hill.

"I want all outgoing audio cut from that room," he told her. "And I want that young woman you have down in isolation brought up here so that I can speak with her as well."

Maria instantly began to object. "Sir, I don't think that is a good idea. It is for everyone's safety that she be-"

"-And I'm telling you that I want to speak with her," Coulson intercepted. "Is that understood?"

Maria backed down and nodded as Coulson reached for the interrogation room door.

* * *

Daniel paced within the small, quiet room. His mind was on Anna. He could understand the fear that S.H.I.E.L.D. had in holding her within a place where she could potentially cause damage or hurt someone. But they weren't aware that she was incapable of doing anything of the sort and he wasn't about to explain it to them. Because he was unable to protect her, like her parents had told him to, she was now a prisoner in isolation.

Their mission had become a failure.

From the moment they arrived on that beach, everything had gone wrong. The plan to upload the program into Stark's computers was far from happening. Thier current predicatment caused him to consider how good of an agent he was. He had been trained by some of the best S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, but nothing could have ever prepared him for this. There was never a 'Time Travel 101' course that was offered.

He shook his head and snorted at the thought as the door suddenly opened.

Neither one said anything for a few seconds until Coulson reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He put it on vibrate before setting it on the table in the middle of the room and then undid his suit coat and put it around the back of the chair.

"I figure that I may be here for a while so we may as well get comfortable," Coulson said, pulling the chair out to sit down.

Without saying a word, he glanced at the chair opposite him before looking up at Daniel. After a beat, Daniel pulled the chair out and sat down.

Again, a few seconds passed when neither one spoke. Finally, Coulson sighed.

"I'm sorry," he began. "I'm finding this situation a bit unusual. It's not everyday that you meet someone from the future."

Daniel glanced nervously at the glass after Coulson spoke those words.

"Don't worry. Audio is turned off."

Daniel smirked slightly and glanced down at his lap.

"I know the feeling, sir."

Coulson smiled.

"I'm sure that you do." He paused for a moment before continuing.

"I had the opportunity to open those files on the USB stick that was found on you," he told Daniel. "I have to say that it was slightly disconcerting to have an image of myself from twenty-something years in the future speak to me. I was hoping that you could assist me in decoding what is exactly on it. I can't ask any of my agents for obvious reasons."

"Unfortunately sir, I'm not experienced with that," Daniel told him. "But the young woman who accompanied me, is."

Coulson nodded. "The young woman with the Extremis virus, right?"

"It is dormant within her cell structure, although it does give off a signature that some scanners may treat as active."

"Like our scanners," Coulson concluded, as Daniel nodded.

"She isn't dangerous."

"Unfortunately, until we can completely verifty that, we are simply taking precautions."

The sound of the door opening caused Coulson to look over his shoulder.

The first thing Daniel saw was the bag over the persons head before he glanced down at the fully encompassed hands within a metal cylinder and finally the shakles around the ankles. A second later, the bag was pulled off the head and he met Anna's brown eyes. Her dark auburn hair sat haphazardly over her face from being inside the dark bag.

Daniel quickly stood up as Coulson followed suit.

An unrecognizable voice spoke from behind her.

"I should inform you that if your body temperature rises above 105 Ferenheit or if you attempt to leave this room unaccompanied, an electric pulse will instantly stop your heart from beating."

Anna swallowed.

"Keep my cool, I understand," she said softly, in a feeble attempt to hide her anxiety.

Daniel had never heard her speak so fearfully.

Once the door closed and effectively locked behind them, Daniel made his way over to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine, considering everything I've been through," she replied sarcastically, as she raised her bound hands and attempted to brush her hair out of her face. Daniel, seeing her struggled rubbed his hands over her face and into her hair.

"I apologize for your situation," Coulson spoke up from where he stood by the table. He had been watching the exchange with interest. "Your confinement has been merely a precaution. I'm hoping that we can resolve some of that."

Coulson gestured to the seat where Daniel had been sitting before.

Anna glanced from Coulson to Daniel. Besides Captain American, Coulson was the only other person they had a connection to in both times that they have seen. Seeing the man in a younger version of himself was surreal. Anna couldn't help but stare at him as she slowly made her way towards the table. The shackles rattled against the floor as she walked and she was relieved to finally sit.

"I'll get straight to the point," Coulson said, looking at the pair in front of him. "I know that you're from the future and as much as I'd like to know about it, I don't. I understand that S.H.I.E.L.D sent you both back in time in order to prevent an event from occuring. Unfortunately and perhaps fortunately, my older counterpart never devolged that information on that USB drive. There was a program within it along with some other details that I don't want to understand, but I do."

Coulson reached forward and picked up his phone and quicklly found the details of the file that he wanted clarification for.

"It looks like these are specifications for our long range radiation scanners," he said, turning the phone towards the pair.

Daniel reached forward and took the phone. After a simple glance at it, he held it in front of Anna.

"Yes, they are to be updated and further enhanced as an early warning system."

"Early warning system," Coulson muttered to himself.

"I hate to ask this," he began. "But why?"

Anna turned to Daniel beside her, unsure of what to say. She defaulted to allow him to answer.

"Within a few years time, you'll be thankful you have it," Daniel replied.

* * *

"Do you have any idea how twisted this whole situation is?" Stark exclaimed. He laid on a cot on the otherside of the room where he and Banner had been working. An arm rested over his eyes. "Agent Coulson is alive. Phil Coulson. The man who had his heart stabbed by crazy-cracker Loki. The same agent man who dropped into my life the day I returned from my time in the desert."

"No matter how you say it, he's still Coulson," Bruce stated.

He had been hearing Tony rant for nearly an hour about how they had been kept in the dark for years, how they had mourned and ultimately sought their revenge against Loki for the death of their friend, only to find out now that he's perfectly fine. Even Dr. Banner had trouble wrapping his scientific mind around it. He wasn't aware of the medical intervention that must have taken place to bring him back to life but it must had been extensive. It made what he was currently doing look like childs play.

He focused on extracting the DNA sequence on the 3d model in front of him to break down the genes in hopes of matching it to one of the many Extremis patients.

"I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised," Stark suddenly said. "This is S.H.I.E.L.D were talking about here. What I don't understand is how two kids with intense radiation levels was the reason why he came out of the closet, so to speak."

"They're hardly kids," Bruce retorted with a chuckle. "They're both at least twenty years old."

He heard Stark scoff before he continued his verbal thinking.

"But still, why now? What makes these two so special?"

"You've got me there," Bruce told him. "He must have his reasons."

Stark groaned audibly. "This whole thing is giving me a headache. Do you know where I'm supposed to be right now?"

"No, where?"

"I was supposed to be sitting on the beach on Grand Cayman Island," he said. "Pepper is there right now, waiting for me. I told her this would be a quick job for S.H.I.E.L.D. She understood when I mentioned it had something to do with someone with Extremis. She's going to flip when I have to stay longer."

"I think she'd understand given the circumstances."

Stark turned his head and looked at Bruce.

"She's a redhead, Banner," he deadpanned. "That alone is a death sentence to anyone who would dare change her plans for this vacation that she has meticulously planned for 5 months."

Bruce shrugged as Tony went back to covering his head with his arm. Finally, the room fell silent once again. Banner smiled to himself when he heard the soft sounds of Tony snoring. He knew there was a reason why the man had stopped speaking. As much as he enjoyed conversing with Tony Stark, he also looked forward to the time apart.

Turning back to the woman's DNA sequence, he smiled with satisfaction as he had successfully extracted the DNA molecules housing the Extremis. He ran the Extremis-free DNA sequence along with the one with Extremis through the database. He was about to stand, knowing that this procedure was more than likely going to take hours or at least bring up no results once again. A beeping from the computer caught his attention.

Bruce turned, and glanced at it. He raised his glasses to his face when he couldn't believe the results he was reading in front of him. He quickly glanced back at the man sleeping soundly across the room before turning back and tapping some commands on the keyboard.

"That's impossible," he whispered to himself. "This can't be right."

A second beeping alerted him to the other DNA test being complete as well. He had broken down the man's DNA in hopes of figuring out a parental decent, and he had.

Bruce gasped, seeing the results being stated plainly in front of him. It was unbelieveable and actually incredible to even consider in some aspects.

The sound of Tony speaking out suddenly while he slept, startled Bruce. He looked over his shoulder, slightly guarded at the information that he had in front of him. With a few commands, he sent that information to the printer across the room before shutting down the program he was using. He quickly stood up upon hearing the printer come to life, afraid that it would rouse the sleeping billionaire. Bruce glanced at Tony and grabbed the sheet of paper the moment the printer finished spitting it out. As he made his way towards the door, he pulled on his glasses and suddenly tripped over a low lying filing cabinet partially hidden under the table. The commotion was enough to wake Tony. He sat up straight on the cot and exclaimed a few words of jargon before seeing Bruce on his hands and knees, pushing himself up to stand.

"Hey Banner, you all right?" he asked, running his hand over his face.

"Uh, yeah," Bruce said, avoiding eye contact with Tony as he picked up the sheet of paper off the floor. "I...I uh, I just need to get this to...uh, Coulson."

"Sure Pal," Tony stated, watching as Bruce quickly left the room.

"That was weird," he quipped, looking at the closed door before turning towards the work station that Bruce had been working at. The computer had been put to sleep. Tony swung his legs over the cot and walked towards it. Rubbing his eyes, he jossled the mouse and brought the computer back online. He was surprised to find the program and DNA tests that Bruce had been running was suddenly shut down. As far as he was concerned, they still hadn't gotten their results yet.

"What are you up to, Banner?" he whispered as he slid into the doctor's chair.

It wouldn't take long for him to backtrack. After all, Tony Stark was never one to back down from a challenge.


	10. Chapter 10

The sheet of paper felt like a heavy weight in his hand as he made his way down the corridor, his mind still confused as to what he had read. It didn't make any sense. Dr. Banner held it close to his chest, knowing the information that was contained on it were to be only for Coulson and him alone. Then again, there was a good chance that if anyone else did happen to glance at it, they wouldn't believe the results anyways. He, himself found it to be unbelieveable.

The two people who were currently being interrogated were somehow related to his friends. And looking at the results, they weren't distant relatives. The DNA results contained base pair sequences that could have only come from the DNA of certain individuals who could only be their parents. Yet, it didn't even seem possible. His mind ventured into the realms of various possibilities including alien cloning. But these two DNA samples were as human as they could be.

He always found the subject of DNA to be fascinating. He had worked extensively on his own after his accident years ago that changed his life. But this was a bit different. There were hundreds, if not thousands of combinations with the DNA structure. Never in a million years would he had expected the results that he held in his hand. Bruce would have expected that there was to be some sort of error, but this was DNA. This was no mistake. Every molecule and gene was in its place. But he still had trouble wrapping his mind around it and believing what he held in his hand was true.

There was Natasha's situation.

She had informed him many months ago during their hiding at Clint Barton's home that she was sterile. But now, according to DNA, her grown son was being held in containment.

And there was the issue with Extremis where Pepper had been infected two years prior. Yet, her apparent 20-something daughter carried that exact same dormant gene that he and Tony Stark enacted on Pepper.

It just didn't make any sense to him.

He was so deep in thought that he didn't even noticed that he had arrived. Bruce had briefly seen the pair while they were both heavily sedated before they were whisked away to confinement. But now, he looked at them with a new set of eyes and he could see resemblances. As unsettling as it was, he found them facinating to watch.

Mannerisms.

Facial expressions.

Posture.

Bruce took a step closer to the glass and for the first time, he really looked at their faces. He could see minuet details that were distinctly from either of their parents in their facial features. It amazed him that no one else noticed. But then again, no one was expecting to see it.

He was suddenly startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Steve Rogers stood behind him, a look of curiosity and concern on his features.

"Are you all right, Dr. Banner?"

It was then that he noticed the rest of his friends who happened to have been around him when he first arrived, but he didn't even notice. He was so focused and distracted that he had been in his own world.

"Uh, yeah," Bruce replied, glancing at everyone.

Steve noticed the sheet in Bruce's hand. Bruce seemed to notice him looking at it and he instinctively held it closer to his chest.

"I have to give this to Coulson," Bruce said, as Steve shook his head.

"Sorry Dr. Banner," Steve told him. "Coulson has disabled recordings and the audio to the room and has requested to not be disturbed."

He glanced back at the window, seeing Anna with the large cylinder enclosure around her hands. It was obvious that they were uncomfortable by the way she was moving and her posture. Bruce now knew for a fact that she wasn't dangerous and he had the paper to prove it.

"I need to inform Coulson that the woman in there is not a danger to him or to this facility," he told Steve.

"And how do you know that?"

"I..." He paused seeing all eyes were on him. "I...uh...I can't say. Coulson needs to see this."

Dr. Banner stepped past Steve and knocked on the window.

Instantly, all three pairs of eyes turned towards the sound. Steve sighed as he crossed his arms. They watched as Coulson spoke a few words before standing up and moving towards the door. Bruce glanced triumphantly at Steve before heading towards the door where two armed S.H.I.E.L.D agents stood.

Coulson walked out and glanced at the group by the window. "Why am I being disturbed?"

Dr. Banner held out the piece of paper towards Coulson. Phil glanced at it before taking it from Bruce's hand. After a few seconds, he looked back up at the doctor. He had known that they were from the future, but that was all he had known. He found the results as amazing as Bruce had.

Coulson swallowed visibly. The shock was on his face for only a few seconds before it disappeared. Always the professional S.H.I.E.L.D agent, he hid it as best as he could but his voice betrayed him.

"These have been verified?"

Bruce nodded, understanding what Coulson was feeling. "Twice." He paused, watching Coulson before continuing. "Do you mind if I join you in there? The woman is no longer a threat."

"I can see that," Coulson stated. He turned to the S.H.I.E.L.D agent by the door. "Get someone down here to get that hardware off of her."

Coulson turned back to Bruce. "Has anyone else seen this?"

"No," Bruce replied. "I deleted the results as soon as it was printed."

"Good," Coulson stated softly. "This remains between the two of us."

Coulson walked back into the interogation room with Dr. Banner behind him, leaving the remaining Avengers in the corridor to watch on.

Clint Barton was the one who suddenly broke the silence.

"Does anyone have any idea what just happened there?"

* * *

When the door reopened, both Anna and Daniel looked towards it. Neither of them expected to see Bruce Banner walk in. He also had no idea what he was walking into.

"If you're not familiar with this man, this is Dr. Bruce Banner," Coulson stated, gesturing to to Bruce who stood awkwardly behind him.

Bruce was impressed to see that Coulson didn't seem phased by what he had just informed him. If he was, he wasn't making any indication otherwise. It was as though this all made sense to him. To Bruce, he was even more confused. He watched as the young man took a step forward and extended his hand towards him. His eyes were exactly like Natasha's and the smile mirrored Steve. He shook the man's hand before looking towards where the young woman sat in the chair. She hadn't stood up to greet him but merely smiled.

"I'd shake your hand too, but I'm a little tied up at the moment."

Bruce smiled and nodded.

"We're going to have that taken care of momentarily," Coulson told her, as he sat back down in his seat.

"But now that we're more acquainted, I was hoping to get some verification on what Dr. Banner has discovered within your genetic pattern," Coulson stated.

"Our genetic what?" Daniel asked. He didn't like the sound of it.

"When you arrived, we took DNA samples to rule out everything from domestic terrorists to more outlandish but not impossible possibility that you both are aliens from a far off planet," Coulson said, with a smirk. "It was merely a precaution. But when we couldn't find your DNA in the system, Dr. Banner found something unique within your blood."

Coulson looked over at Dr. Banner to explain further as he knew that he wasn't familiar with the scientific lingo.

"What Coulson is saying is," Bruce began. "We're aware of who your DNA comes from."

He paused for a moment.

"We had them in the system and were able to match base pair gene sequences," Dr. Banner told them. "What I don't understand is how it is possible."

Coulson smiled weakly, not sure if he should say anything more about that to Bruce. But being an intelligent man, Coulson was certain that Dr. Banner would eventually figure it out anyways.

"That reason is the one thing that I was aware of prior to coming to interrogate them. They are in fact, from a future that hasn't happened yet."

Dr. Banner took a physical step back. "Wait...seriously?"

Coulson nodded, as Bruce looked at Anna and Daniel.

"Time travel is impossible."

"It appears that Tony Stark figured it out, or at least will figure it out," Coulson told Bruce as he watched Dr. Banner's eyes shift to Anna.

"He's your father."

Anna looked down at her hands and nodded before meeting Dr. Banner's eyes. "I suppose so. It still sounds strange to hear his name associated with me though."

Her comment caught Bruce and Phil by surprise. They were aware that Stark was her father but that was all they knew. They weren't aware that he would die before his time.

"How so?" Bruce asked.

Daniel took a step forward, knowing that Anna was going to give information that they weren't not necessarily needing to know. She saw him in the corner of her eye and she turned to stare at him.

"Daniel, I know what you're going to say, but we're stuck here," she stated harshly. "We may as well get to know someone whom we can trust and I know that we can trust Bruce Banner. So I say, to hell with the original mission. It's changed."

Her outburst caught Daniel by surprise. The stress of the day along with what they had endured had reached a climax. She turned back to Coulson and Dr. Banner.

"Tony Stark died when I was a few years old. I only discovered that he was my father just yesterday when you," she paused, looking directly at Coulson, "approached me with evidence to prove it. I have to admit, that hit me so hard that I ended up drinking myself drunk on the beach to the point where it made me late for my own birthday party. It wasn't one of my greatest moments nor best birthdays."

"How did he die?" Banner asked softly. When Anna didn't reply, Coulson did.

"Loki," Coulson replied for her. "He came back to inflict his revenge for what had happened in New York years earlier. The Phil Coulson from their time explained what had happened to Tony Stark and the reason behind their using his Relativity project."

"He hoped to send a team of agents back to create an early warning system so that it changes history," Daniel told them. "Then Tony Stark would've never died. The only difference here was that the original agents for the mission were never to be intercepted and instead would've been able to upload the program without being detected in your time. The only problem is that the Chitauri arrived on Earth and we were the only ones who were able to make it without jeopardizing the continuum. When we left our time, the Chitauri were on the verge of destroying every major city in the world."

"Dear God," Dr. Banner spoke breathlessly after hearing of a possible future.

"We can still prevent that from occurring," Anna stated quickly. "We brought the program with us and could easily set up the early warning system within S.H.I.E.L.D's computers."

"We may need that sooner than later," Banner said. "Thor stated that he was able to detect your arrival on Earth from his planet."

Daniel stepped forward. "We don't have that much time then."

"I don't know how I'll do with tech from the future, but if I can be of help, I'd like to help you," Bruce said, walking towards Daniel.

A smile appeared on Daniel's face. "We'd appreciate it Dr. Banner."

"You know, you look so much like your Dad when you smile," Bruce said. He remembered that Anna had called him by name earlier. "You're Daniel?"

Daniel nodded. "Daniel Rogers, sir."

Bruce smiled. "You even have manners like your old man."

He turned to Anna who still sat in the chairs. She smirked. "Anna Hogan."

Her name caught both of them off guard. Coulson was the one who spoke. "Hogan? As in Happy?"

Anna nodded. "It's a long story."

* * *

"Damn it, Banner," Tony swore, as he glared at the computer in front of him. "What kind of world have we come to when you can't even trust you best science buddy?!"

Tony had been searching the computer for nearly 45 minutes. For someone like him, it shouldn't have taken so long, but Banner did a good job at covering his tracks. He was so enthralled in the work in front of him that he didn't even hear Steve Rogers walk in.

"I think you've finally lost it, Stark," Steve quipped, causing Tony to quickly look over his shoulder and scowl at Steve. "You're talking to the computer."

"Well," Tony said, turning back around, "when said computer will not retrieve a deleted file because a certain somebody doesn't trust anyone in the world, one will succumb to every means possible."

Steve leaned back against the table behind him and crossed his arms.

"Did you ever think that if it was deleted, there was a reason for it?"

Tony glanced over his shoulder. "If you saw how fast Coulson made his escape from this room, you'd be curious as well. He ran like a bat out of hell. Plus, he has this locked up like Fort Knox. There's a reason for that too."

"That's why I came down here. I was wondering if something was going on with him. He just came out of the interrogation room with Coulson and our two uninvited guests," Steve commented, as he thought. "The one with Extremis was strangely released from the bindings on her hands and neither one are handcuffed."

Tony turned and stared at him, confused just as Steve was.

"When Banner came down, he was acting weirdly and insisted on talking to Coulson, even though the man demanded to not be disturbed. Yet, Couslon was cool when Banner gave him some information. He let him in on his private interrogation with the two that we brought in and just walked out like they're long lost friends."

Tony pointed at the computer. "That information he had for Coulson was the same document that he deleted. I hate that S.H.I.E.L.D keeps so many secrets. I mean, if we're helping out, we should at least be privy to some of them."

"Why do I have a feeling that you're going to be opening a Pandora's box if you find that file?" Steve asked aloud.

"I doubt it's anything as sinister as that," Stark stated. "But I am still intrigued."

He paused for a moment.

"Eureka!" Tony suddenly shouted as he slapped the table top with his hand. "Banner, you son of a bitch! That was quite a rabbits trail."

"You found it, I'm guessing?"

Tony nodded as he opened the file. "From someone who has deleted a lot of things in their life, nothing that is deleted is ever truly gone."

The smile on his face faded to confusion followed by terror. "That is impossible. I've never...I mean, I've always been careful. But there was that one time..."

"What is it?" Steve asked, leaning over to look at what Tony was reading. Part of it was completely confusing to him.

"I...I have a kid," Tony stated blankly.

Steve smirked before he began to chuckle.

"It is not funny," Tony exclaimed.

"You have to admit that it's not too far fetched," Steve told him, with a smile.

Tony ran a nervous hand through his hair and read the results again but this time something else caught his eye.

"..okay, now that doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?"

Tony read the results aloud. "The primary genome is a match for Anthony Stark and Virginia Pepper Potts."

Both men were silent as they let that sink in. Together, they looked at the result again.

"That's impossible," Steve stated. "Well, we know that the woman downstairs has Extremis but Pepper only has had it for what? Two years now?"

Tony nodded as he continued to read.

"Here's something else that you might want to see," Tony said, pointing at the screen. As Steve leaned in closer, Tony continued. "Seems like someone has stolen your virtue, old man."

Steve's eyes widened. "Natasha?" He shook his head. "That still doesn't make sense."

"But this makes sense as to why Banner was so spooked when he left," Tony said, leaning back in his chair.

His mind was racing as he thought back to when the pair were brought in and he first saw them. Within seconds, he was sitting back up and typing on the computer.

"What are you doing?"

The printer turned on and began copying the exact sheet that they had just been looking at.

"Something is going on here with S.H.I.E.L.D and I don't like that it involves me," Tony said, standing up and making his way to the computer. "I'm going to get some answers of my own."


End file.
